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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1987)
a 8 Welcome to hell. At least that’s what we call it most of the time. But in reality we love it, or else we wouldn’t do it. Besides, if it wasn’t for us, The Battalion wouldn’t exist. We are the dedicated, dim-witted, dull-minded dunces (so they say) who labor into the wee hours of the morning to produce that liberal communist rag, er, excuse me, I mean bastion of journalistic excellence, known as The Batt. And just for grins, we’d like to invite you to come visit our cave, ahem, newsroom, so that you, too, can experience A Day at the Batt 8:37 a.xn. - The same unsuspecting Battalion staff member falls prey to the morning’s second irate phone caller. Susie Sophomore wants to know why her dorm’s Hawaiian Bash mixer wasn’t covered in yesterday’s Battalion. The staff member explains that while covering every event on campus does seem to be an ideal goal, it is not a very realistic one. Susie inquires as to the whereabouts of The Editor and makes it known that she will be calling again. 9 The production of one day’s paper is a 24-hour process, and Battalion staff members are working in the Reed McDonald Building, where the Battalion is housed, for approximately 17 of those 24 hours. Let’s begin our day with today’s Battalion hot on the presses. 8:89 a.m. - Today’s Battalion goes to press. It takes approximately three hours to produce 23,000 copies of the newspaper on a daily basis. Most Battalion staff members are still snoozing (perhaps snoring?) in their respective beds, blissfully unaware of the chaos that lies ahead. 8:36 a.m. - An unsuspecting Battalion staff member who got up early to get a head start on the day falls prey to the morning’s first irate phone caller. Joe Student wants to know why the letter that he submitted for Mail Call two days ago hasn’t run yet. The staff member explains to Joe that since he didn’t put a phone number on his letter, a clerk hasn’t yet been able to verify that he really wrote the letter. 10:07 a.m. - The editor and managing editor (ah.a. Head Liberal Commies) arrive to begin a day’s work. The editor will spend the rest of the day fielding phone calls from irate readers like Joe Student and Susie Sophomore and dealing with any problems that crop up during the day. The editor’s main responsibilities, as far as we can determine, are coordination, cooperation, collaboration, consideration, supervision, substantiation, investigation, intervention, interaction, interrogation, explanation, exploration and general improve- ation of the newspaper. The managing editor spends the better part of the day working with “interior” staff problems, including everything from computer system crashes to supply orders to payroll. 11:83 a.m. - Around noon, the opinion page editor will decide what letters, columns, etc. to use on tomorrow’s opinion page. Many letters will be rejected for lack of proper identification or phone number, thereby ensuring the next day’s irate phone calls. 1:00 p.m. - All stories for the following day’s paper are due, except those covering events that will happen later in the day. The assistant city desk editors read the stories, and then pass them on for the city desk editor’s perusal. 1:39 p.m. - Pacific Garden Chinese Restaurant delivery person arrives with arms full of pork fried rice, egg rolls, pepper steak, etc., stands looking lost amidst the newsroom chaos for a few minutes before someone picks up the aroma of the Chinese cuisine and bellows, “Foooooood’s here!” Everyone takes a short break as the Batt does lunch. 8:14 p.m. - The phone rings, and the staff member who answers is delighted to discover the day’s one and only complimentary caller on the line, who wants to congratulate the Batt on its coverage of a recent event. An announcement is made, and there is much rejoicing in the newsroom.