EDITORIAL: Central Michigan Life is student media
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This fall marks the beginning of a long journey for 3,600 freshmen who are taking their first steps on the road to graduation. This year is also observed as the 96th for Central Michigan Life, a student-operated media company that has been on campus longer than the most grizzled super senior.
A lot has changed at CMU in 96 years, and we have always been there to document it. After publishing online during the summer, we will continue to present clear, accurate and fair coverage of issues that impact this community during the academic year.
We don’t write for the administration, faculty, parents or alumni. Central Michigan Life is the student media.
Whether it’s a quick glance through Instagram photos on your phone while waiting for class to start, a browser tab opened to cm-life.com to distract you from homework you should be working on, or relaxing with our print edition after a long day, we’re there wherever you need us. Follow us on Twitter, share our stories on Facebook, download our app or listen to our podcasts on iTunes; we want to be a part of your life, because you are a part of ours.
You might be wondering what Central Michigan Life can do for you. In a time where information is more accessible than ever, it’s easy to lose yourself in the general noise of content devoid of substance. Central Michigan Life cuts through that noise.
We’re here to tell you things you don’t know about your university, like the fact that an underground series of steam tunnels, operated by a lone facilities worker, runs through the belly of the campus. Don’t try finding them, however; five students faced misdemeanor charges for exploring the tunnels in 2011.
We’re here to tell you more about the nearly 20,000 uniquely individual students on campus, who last year were 88 percent white, 54 percent female and outnumbered faculty 22 to one.
We’re here to give you information you deserve to know, like the 150 percent increase in tuition in just 10 years. If you’re an incoming freshmen, each credit hour is about $300 more expensive than it was when you were born.
Central Michigan Life is here to hold those in power accountable as state funding dwindles and university spending rises. To ask the hard questions, like how will CMU make college affordable when it relies on students to subsidize expensive programs?
Even though 700 surveillance cameras posted throughout campus capture every minute, nobody records the diversity of experience and color of life at CMU like we do.
From the drunken escapades of Welcome Weekend to a demonstration of solidarity protesting CMU’s sexual misconduct policies, we are here to tell your story.
Welcome back to CMU. We’re glad to have you with us.
