If not for the ineffectual posturing of Tufts students towards university issues - TSAD notwithstanding - this campus would be up in arms regarding the small pleasure of which this very newspaper has recently stripped us. Perhaps not up in arms. Perhaps merely grumbling loudly.
Nevertheless, when The Tufts Daily staff decided to take the initiative and rearrange the layout of its publication, its misjudgment agitated the silent majority of the newspaper's patrons. It is simply poor business, and on a more profound scale, the effect could be reduced readership - and therefore awareness - on campus. Convenience is the cornerstone of the Daily's ability to retain an audience, and by removing the comics from the back page and replacing it with sports or advertisements, the Daily executive board is greatly risking the disengagement of that audience, an act whose repercussions are as yet untold.
What this all comes down to is that the customers are unhappy. And though I am far from being an economist or a businessman, I am sensible enough to know that a change is required. Fortunately for the Daily, its solution is simple - change it back to the way it was when the customers were happy. The paper is in the rare position of having a clear-cut right and wrong, success and failure. No serious criticism need be laid upon it, but the Daily should know that in attempting to enact change, it broke its system and it needs to fix it.
I mean no disservice to the athletes, journalists, or professors of this university. I say this because I would not classify myself under any of these labels, and because I respect all three as admirable pursuits. But I also say this because I do not feel that their interests should dictate decisions which impact a broader section of the Tufts community. Call me na??ve, but I cannot begin to imagine that this change in format is the result of sports journalists holding distinguished positions in the Daily hierarchy and using their pull to give the sports news a more conspicuous spot in the layout.
I can only imagine that this alteration was born from the misguided belief that sports equals school spirit. At Tufts, this simply is not true. Jumbos by and large do not pride themselves on athletic achievement. This is not to say that Tufts students don't get excited for their fellow students' accomplishments. Quite the opposite, it is always a pleasure to learn that some person or some team from our small, academic-oriented institution is putting the Tufts name into the public eye. When such an achievement occurs, it should be a front-page story or at least mentioned within the "In This Issue" box on the cover. But the fact remains that only a small demographic at Tufts is particularly interested in the usual sporting news, and they can spend their time reading sports articles in the Daily if they like. But a much larger audience - some sports fans inclusive - wish to read the comics and/or fill out the crossword puzzle on a regular basis.
On the occasion that an advertisement adorns the back page, one can only assume that the Daily can charge more money for this space. Is the Daily in a financial bind? Doubtful. The number of issues pressed per day could easily be cut back if that were the case. No, putting ads on the back page can only be in the interest of spreading campus news, a self-defeating motive when students do not throw a Daily in their bags because the crossword puzzle is too much of a hassle to open up to during class. Not to mention the fact that the comics page does contain the informative "Around Campus" section. Removing the comics from the back page is acting contrary to the interests of the majority of the Tufts population; if the objective was to spread sports awareness and by it school spirit, or event news and by it campus awareness, then the plan has apparently failed and the situation should be remedied.
It is entirely possible - albeit extremely unlikely - that I have managed to cross paths with an abnormal portion of the Tufts community who all happen to agree that they preferred the back cover with comics to sports and advertising. It is extremely unlikely because beyond those with whom I spoke directly about the topic (response most commonly given: "Yeah, it sucks!"), I have witnessed in classes a great number of Jumbos filling out the crossword puzzle during a lecture. Depending on a person's perspective, this could be seen as detrimental to a student's education and offensive to a lecturer's abilities and style. On the contrary, the classes during which students typically fill out the crossword puzzle are large, impersonal lectures in which the comics help keep a student alert. Furthermore, it is a student's choice to attend and pay attention in class.
With this alteration in layout, students have to open the back page and fold it over to complete the crossword, clearly a greater disruption to the class than merely filling one out. Most students are wary of doing so, and consequently will not bother grabbing a Daily on their way to a class because they know the hassles of opening one. The crossword, comics, and jumble are cornerstones of the Daily's popularity, and by restricting access to them the Daily staff is compromising the foundation of its audience.
Casting aside all my speculation about reasons for and benefits of the modification, the heart of the "issue" remains. Whatever the Daily executives' reasons may have been, they do not jive with the student body and we should be given back our small pleasure. The issue is clearly trivial, and there is no reason to glorify it, but at the same time the solution is so simple and the sentiment so nearly unanimous that it should not be entirely overlooked. I must reiterate, let the Daily know your dissatisfaction and let us all read Fox Trot aggravation-free.
David Raskin is a junior majoring in computer science.
