the water tower totally rules!
by julietcritsimilios

the water tower is the best newsmagazine in the history of the world. We charm the pants off UVM students and faculty with quick wit and cleverness every week (alternatively, of course). The amazing publication that we are is appreciated greatly, but we just can’t seem to get enough people applauding our awesomeness.

Take Anthony, a student from Eastern Nazarene College. Anthony was starting a paper called the Veritas News and asked his friends for their school newspapers and magazines for inspiration. A fellow UVM student obviously recommended our lovely newsmagazine, accurately telling Anthony that the water tower “basically flew off the shelves, was really original, and a fun way to get the news around campus.” Her flattery got even better when she explained, “I personally love reading the water tower because it never fails to make me laugh ... somehow I always seem to be in a quiet area and end up looking like a fool for just cracking up while reading! I’ve transferred from two other universities and the wt is by far the funniest, most interesting, and original newspaper I’ve read.” Two other schools? Wow. That’s a lot of papers that are not as cool as we are.

When Anthony saw the paper, he adored us, as everyone does. He said that he couldn’t come to favor “a section. I thoroughly enjoy the design of the newspaper and I enjoy how the paper has a lot of cartoons and drawn figures. This shows time and dedication by the staff.”

Our dedicated staff concurs. Not only did he appreciate our immense effort and ideas, he also stacked the water tower up against other schools’ papers: “As for schools, I look at the printed papers of Northeastern University and Emerson College. I am looking into a website in the near future, and for that I have been looking at Boston College, Emerson, Northeastern, and Harvard.” Harvard and Northeastern have nothing on us. And Emerson and BC? Don’t make us laugh.

Anthony explained that the biggest difference between the water tower and The Veritas News are the schools’ audiences. Veritas News comes out of Eastern Nazarene College, which is a very Christian affiliated school. Anthony spoke about the barriers he had to break and his new ideas: “I am trying to voice more controversial topics. It seems that writers and students are nervous to express themselves because of our Christian affiliation, but I must always remind them about the First Amendment and how I will back them up for anything.” Although he is ballsy, those nuts can’t be totally cracked: “I totally love the water tower’s layout. I think it’s fun and just an enjoyable read. The photos are hilarious and it’s so great that you go to a secular college where you can write anything about anything. It’s tough going to a Christian college where I’m sort of … stuck … on things that I cannot print (i.e.: sex, swears, etc).”

While he can’t have a shit list, his audience is expanding regardless of these binds, which is a lot more than it was doing prior to his (and our) influence. “Before I got the editor-in-chief position, the old EIC did not produce a quality paper. When our first edition came out, every student and faculty was excited to see the new paper.” The (only) leg he has up on the water tower is his cash flow. “My paper was not hard to get off the ground only because it has been in ENC’s tradition since 1933 and we are the second largest “money user,” right behind the yearbook. Our budget is around 20k which allows us to use every resource to get a paper out every two weeks.” Lest we forget the water tower has absolutely no money and gets a stunning paper out every single week. But still. The main crux of Anthony’s job is just as stressful as that of our editors, and he cares about what all journalists care about – making his work relevant and accepted. “The first objective is to have quality writing and stories that people care about.”

Anthony’s dedication, liveliness, and tenacity obviously all stem from the water tower’s own strength. His ideas were modeled after our paper because our paper is the shit. The voice of the paper and the evident efforts of our staff are insurmountable in Anthony’s quest to someday be as great as us. We influence people everywhere to do amazing, wondrous, things. the water tower is making our society a better place, one stupendous issue at a time.