An Interview with Hadassah Umbarger

 

One of the best ways to get your information around Newman University is through the school newspaper The Vantage. The staff and writers for the newspaper are familiar faces around campus by this point, interviewing faculty, staff, and students about what they are up to around campus or current events. Rarely, however, do the writers get interviewed themselves.

Hadassah Umbarger is a sophomore at Newman University and a writer for The Vantage. I sat her down to ask a few questions about how she started working for the paper and what her experience has been.

How long have you been writing for the Vantage and what made you want to write for them?

The editor-in-chief, Madeline Alvarez, contacted me over the summer and asked me if I would be interested in writing for the Vantage. I’m a relatively new addition to the Vantage team, and I’ve only been writing for this semester. I was interested in joining because a lot of the Vantage team are people I already know, and I enjoy writing. Also, if I’m being completely honest, my parents thought it was a good idea for me to join.

About how much time would you say you spend working on the Vantage in a given week?

I’m not an editor, just a staff writer, so I would say maybe two hours. If you add our meeting then maybe three hours.

What are some of the responsibilities of the staff members?

After we get our stories assigned, we have a deadline to get our articles in. So before that deadline we need to interview people for our story (usually at least two), write our story, and ideally get a photo to go with it.

What is the relationship like amongst the Vantage Staff?

I’ve not been part of the Vantage for as long, but I can tell that the students who have been there for years are like their own little family. Denise Neil is part of that family too. Meetings are always a blast.

The Vantage is a student-run newspaper, right? How would you say the relationship between Vantage staff and the University staff/faculty?

Hm. I’ve not been around for as long so I can’t answer this question as well, but for the most part when I let people know that I want to interview them for the Vantage they’re happy to help. I’ve only had a few staff members ghost me. I’ve interviewed everyone from the Interim Residence Life director to the President of the University, and they have all been super helpful.

What types of stories does the Vantage cover? Is there a type you’d like to cover more of?

In the News section we cover general happenings on campus, whether it’s new lunch boxes in the cafe or the President firing four staff members. In the Arts & Entertainment section we cover all of the creative things on campus, so what plays the theater department is putting on, the trunk-or-treat getting cancelled, or just “Media with Murphy”. In the Sports section we keep students up to date on what’s happening in that section of the University, like the baseball boys getting new uniforms or games getting postponed. And finally the Opinion section is an open field-- anyone can write about anything, and they can rant if they want to. In the other sections’ writers are expected to keep their personal views and feelings out of the story-- Opinions lets writers’ vent.

About how many articles get into the Vantage per issue? What other kind of content do you put into the Vantage?

The newspaper is divided into four sections: News, Arts & Entertainment, Sports and Opinions. Each section usually has 3-4 stories in it, except for Opinions which has two. Sometimes we’ll add “Wild Art” (photographs that aren’t really connected to any of the stories but illustrate some aspect of campus life) or a “Question of the Week” (where we ask 4-5 students their opinion on the same question).

How much freedom do you have when it comes to what you write about? (Are stories assigned to you, or do you get to choose?)

At the beginning of each Vantage meeting we brainstorm story ideas, and if we have an idea that we really want to write about it usually gets OK’d by Denise Neil and the Editor-in-Chief and put in. Then the stories get divided up and assigned— we can ask to write any of the stories if we really want to, and after everyone who cares calls the stories they want the remaining stories are assigned to the remaining writers.

A quick note for the reader: Hadassah would explain to me that Denise Neil is the advisor for the newspaper. Outside of the University, she actually works for the Wichita Eagle as a writer in the local entertainment section. Denise helps the Editor-In-Chief, Madeline, run the newspaper and edit the stories, as well as providing advice to the staff and writers. This means that The Vantage has an actual professional journalist helping them out!

How is it decided what articles make it into an issue of the Vantage?

Vantage members are always on the lookout for good stories, and if we see or hear about something then we’ll bring it to Denise Neil and the Editor-in-Chief. We look for things that we feel the student body ought to know, or just things we think would make for a fun story that people would like to read

Why do you think it’s important to have a school newspaper?

To keep the student body informed about issues on campus. I also think it’s significant that the newspaper is written by students, not university staff. I think this allows for an unbiased view to be presented to our audience. Rumors are bound to happen on any campus, but a newspaper lets students find out if there is any truth behind those rumors.

How do you think working for the Vantage is preparing you for after college?

Oof, that’s a hard question. It’s interesting to see a little “behind the scenes” view of the University, and knowing how organizations work will probably help me better understand things like that in the future. I’ve also had to practice talking to strangers to interview them-- so that will definitely come in handy later on.

If someone were interested in writing for the Vantage team, how would they go about doing so?

There is contact information on the back of the newspaper. They can reach out to the Editor-in-Chief and she’ll get them set up. We would love to have them!

This was just a little sneak peek to behind the scenes of the team that keeps news flowing around Newman! If you’re looking to keep up to date on the happenings of Newman University, check out The Vantage each Thursday for the newest info. If you’re interested in writing for the team, then take Hadassah’s words into account, and contact the editor to see your own articles in the paper!