It’s that time of year: freshman orientation. Time to welcome in all the fresh-faced youngsters and encourage them to get actively involved in campus activities to keep them from upsetting the grumpy residents of the College Area.
For The Daily Aztec, it’s a great opportunity to recruit aspiring journalists and help them get their foot in the door by working for an award-winning publication.
But when your table is buried behind bells, whistles and spin-to-win wheels at the Associated Students booth, spreading the word about a newspaper can be as difficult as San Diego State hiring a contractor to fix a plumbing problem in less than three visits.
But rest assured, we are most certainly here, ready to serve you. And here is the story of our first day at orientation to prove it.
11:45 a.m.-ish
After the grueling five-minute journey from the windowless basement that is the Daily Aztec office, we arrive at the cavalcade of tents outside the library. Editor in Chief Giselle Domdom regales us with tales of her own days as a freshman and how she had to hunt for the Daily Aztec table. Nothing has really changed, as we wander through the tents searching for our position. Every other organization has a little sign above its set-up. So logically, we set up at the lone table that didn’t have a sign. Lo and behold, it turned out to be ours. Who says you don’t need basic reasoning skills to be a journalist?
Noon
Our Daily Aztec banner needs to be unfurled and put up. For me, it’s go time. I’m an intern at XX Sports Radio here in San Diego, and most of the job revolves around putting up banners. At first, I scoffed at the idea that this would actually help me in the “real world.” Now, with a chance to showcase two months of signage mastery, I sprung into action. A quick unroll, two layers of tape on the top and a couple of pieces to secure the sides and we were ready to be noticed. If that is not a real world experience, I beg you to tell me what is.
12:05 p.m.
The smell of freshly laid manure is overwhelming. I try to spin it into a pitch for the paper.
“Smell that?” I said. “That’s the kind of dirt and corruption we uncover every day at The Daily Aztec.”
It doesn’t smell pleasant, but then again, the truth never does.
12:10 p.m.
“Can I sign up for cheerleading here?” a confused girl asked.
“You’re looking for another booth,” I replied.
This has “long day” written all over it.
12:17 p.m.
A.S. is handing out a pink form for interested students to sign up and participate in student government. Because our table is right next to theirs, people automatically assume that it is the place to fill out their applications. Several people ask myself and Managing Editor Justin Lafferty if it’s OK if they don’t know their Social Security number off the top of their head. Sure, why not? It’s our responsibility to know the ins and outs of A.S., and we provided an invaluable service to these people by telling them how to properly sign up for everything but The Daily Aztec.
12:23 p.m.
We’re giving away a chance to win a $25 gift card from American Express for everyone who signs up to receive our online edition in their e-mail. Justin and I brainstorm about ways to get the word out. Dressing up Justin in a sandwich board is one of our better ideas.
“Sandwich board?” Giselle said. “Is that a panel where people sit and discuss sandwiches?”
I think Giselle is working a bit too hard running the paper this summer.
12:34 p.m.
OK, I know the candy we have at the table is free, but it still bothers me when the same two people casually walk up and grab a handful every five minutes. It bothers me even more when they fake an interest and ask me about how they can get involved with the Residence Hall Association. Seriously, if you’re going to mooch sweets off us, the least you can do is make an effort to inquire about the right organization.
12:50 p.m.
“I have some friends that might be interested in working for you,” a student said to me. Sigh, I remember when I used to lie to the people working orientation booths to get their hopes up. I guess what goes around really does come around.
Though our first day was a bit slow, my hopes are not dashed. Yes, one of you will win that gift card. Yes, one of you freshmen will be a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Yes, we will still be an essential part of this campus.
And no, you cannot sign up for ultimate Frisbee at our table.
-Mike Menninger is a journalism senior who now knows that it’s a bad idea to wear a black dress shirt in the middle of July.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.
