Hey Patriots,
So we have reached the end of our time together for this semester. I can honestly say that, despite some ups and downs, this has been a relatively smooth ride. My Co Editor Hailey and I haven’t fought each other to the death in a Hamilton-vs.-Burr-esque duel, so I consider that a win.
We’ve also had some changes within our office, and I’m personally really excited for what this means for Fourth Estate in the future. Our News Editor, Abigail Adcox, has been accepted to spend next semester abroad in Paris, and I wish her the best of luck going forward. Her good leadership and impeccable news judgment will be missed, but the section will be left in more than capable hands.
One of our copy editors, Laura Scudder, will be moving from her position to take over as News Editor next semester. I have the utmost confidence in her ability to grow the section even more, and her potential as an editor and a reporter is boundless. I’m excited for you all to see her work. With Laura, we will be bringing on a staff writer, Alexa Tironi, as the Assistant News Editor. I have full confidence in this team and what they’ll accomplish next semester.
Our Opinion Editor, Chris Kernan-Schmidt, will be leaving us as well. I’ve always respected Chris’s ability to take on responsibility while remaining self-aware about what he can handle. Ultimately, I’m sad to see him go, but I’m excited to see what he does next.
The section will be left to one of our long-time Opinion staff writers, Dominic Pino, whose work I’ve seen grow and change immensely since he started writing for us in 2017. I believe that, with his experience and dedication to the section, our Opinion writers will be left in good hands with Dominic as Opinion Editor.
Additionally, Jack Harvey, our current Assistant News Editor and, frankly, one of the most promising student-journalists I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, will take over as the Assistant Opinion Editor. His creativity, excellent fact-checking and good judgment will allow the section and its writers to sharpen their skills and writing style.
As for this issue, we have some great content for you guys. In our News Section, our writer covered the problems with alleged discrimination at Mason’s Panda Express. In our Culture Section, the regular feature Faces of Mason honors the editors leaving us next semester.
In Sports, our writers provided excellent insight behind one of Mason’s own basketball players, Tamia Lawhorne. Our Opinion Section ran a Letter to the Editor this week from Mason’s chapter of the Association of American University Professors on what Mason should be looking for in our next university president.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please reach out to us at masonfourthestate@gmail.com. Good luck on finals, and finish out this semester strong.
Sincerely,
Dana Nickel
Co Editor-in-Chief
