I’ve got only a few weeks left as editor in chief of the Indiana Daily Student, and the student publications board is seeking my replacements. Not to worry–this happens at the end of every semester.
Managing editor Chris Freiberg  and assistant campus editor Zachary Osterman are vying for the summer editor in chief position.

Managing editor Trevor Brown is running uncontested for the fall term.

Arbutus managing editor Meg Woods is seeking the 2008 Arbutus EIC position.

To view the applicants’ applications, visit http://idsnews.com/eic/ .

The interviews are Friday, March 30 in the Indiana Memorial Union, State Room East. The Arbutus interview is at 10 a.m.; summer EIC begins at 1:30 p.m., and the fall EIC interview will follow that.

Eleven people comprise this board, and they will question the candidates. The audience is free to ask questions, as well.

This interview is open to the public, so feel free to attend and voice concerns, or you can contact the members of the board by visiting this page: http://www.idsnews.com/news/about/staff.php#puboard

So it got a little stressful towards the end of tonight. At about 11:15 p.m., with about 45 minutes until our final deadline, we became aware that page 15, a small jumps page, was somehow ignored and left entirely blank. It had mostly ads so there was only a few columns that had to be filled. Thankfully instead of having a big old block of nothing on the page, it was caught and we managed to throw on a sports AP wire story before deadline.

Even after all the safeguards we have – a sheet is put up that is supposed to tell the stage the page is in – mistakes still happen. Mostly I blame myself though. I got one of the pages mixed up and didn’t realize the page was still undesigned and had a big hole there. While, this isn’t an entirely new occurrence, it just goes to show how carefully we must pay attention to even the most overlooked detail. Still, we survived the scare and go on to live another day. We will learn from this snafu and are already facing the next deadline in 22 hours, 40 minutes. Wish us luck.

As I post this we’re in the process of putting together a great front page for tomorrow about Little 500 qualifications and other controversy surrounding this year’s race. But as our reporters, editors, photographers and designers put the finishing touches on this package, I can’t help but wonder if it’s what you the readers really want to see.

On the front page of our Web site we have a poll, and so far only about one-third of the respondents actually care about the race. Most people just seem to be interested in parties, music or nothing at all. So, here’s your chance to tell us what direction you would like to see our coverage take in the next few weeks. We’re definitely going to have a huge Little 500 paper the Monday after the race, but what would you like to see in terms of coverage in the weeks leading up to the race? Should we run front page stories on every last bit of news that comes out, or should most of our Little 500 coverage be left in the sports section? Let us know in the comments section!

I am sure you are craving your needed dosage of the Indiana Daily Student after our weeklong hiatus during spring break. But don’t worry, when you arrive to your classes Monday a new edition will be ready for you on our stands.

In order for this to happen, our spring break technically is a day shorter than the rest of you. Most of the staff will be back in town and working all day Sunday to put out the paper and to catch you up on everything that’s been going on the past week. Traditionally, the paper on the Monday following Spring Break has been an issue of concern. With most people gone the entire week, reporters usually struggle to get in contact with sources. Also with our staff scattered around the country during break, it is hard to coordinate original content.

That being said, as I just opened the newsroom and staffers are slowly filtering in, I am optimistic we will have a strong paper for Monday. We will have a recap of the Hoosiers heartbreaking loss Saturday to UCLA, coverage of all the other IU sporting events that have been going on over break and hopefully we will have some nice features some of our reporters have been working on for a long time. So look forward to getting your daily fix of the IDS in less than 24 hours.

We are in the process of creating a new blog for the IU baseball team. First, though we must decide on the name. After heated debate and verbal arguments, we narrowed the list to four. We were taking a poll of the staff to decide which one would be the best, when we remembered we love democracy. So in the spirit of freedom, we are letting you decide. Check out the poll on the homepage of idsnews.com and cast your vote and participate in the political process. Remember, if you don’t vote the terrorists win.

While attempting to decide what to blog about tonight, our City & State editor, Kristi Oloffson, suggested I present the question if there is too much depressing or negative content in our paper.

For example while we are always looking for uplifting and postive stories, today’s City & State section leads with the incredibly tragic story of the plane crash in Bedford, where the pilot appears to have purposely crashed his plane into his mother-in-laws house, killing not only himself but also his eight-year-old daughter.

While some criticize the press for the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality some claim we abide by, we feel that you should be aware of tragic stories involving death, murder, assault or rape cases. In the many roles that we attempt to fulfill as a paper, providing this kind of information to the public is near the top. That is not to say we don’t see the importance of our other roles such as providing entertainment and to highlight positive stories in our community. Take Tuesday’s frontpage for example: Our centerpiece story tells of how the IU greek community came together to help build a home for Habitat for Humanity. See the world is not all bad.

So when looking at our paper or other media outlets, do you think we are covering too much “negative” news, or maybe are we looking not enough at them? What do you think?