As representatives of the Pilot, we hope to transition into the real world with an appreciation for advocacy and critical thinking.  We believe our professors have fostered within us a love for learning that will carry us through all future pursuits. We appreciate our outstanding abroad programs, which have encouraged us to develop a strong worldview. We remember the host of speakers who have urged Principia audiences to get up and get involved and promote worthy causes. These memories make the prospect of watching our futures unfold all the more exciting.

Principia has been a great community to serve for the past four years, and we are exceedingly grateful to all who have helped us along the way. Thank you to our wonderful staff who write, take photos and design for the magazine, and a special thanks to those dedicated few who stay up until 7 a.m. finalizing the layout or have had to leave Pilot Night “early” for an ornithology class bird walk at 6 a.m. We would also like to thank our dedicated and insightful faculty advisor Paul Van Slambrouck and our College President Dr. Jonathan Palmer for their input and guidance.

Of course, the work we do would not be possible without this community’s support and receptivity. Thank you to those who have selflessly given their time to help our publication with interviews, letters to the editor, creative submissions, and more.

We would also like to take this opportunity to formally introduce the incoming Pilot editorial staff for the 2012-2013 academic year. Vincent Herr will serve as Managing Editor, with Ben Frederick as Assigning Editor, Liza Hagerman as Production Editor, Stuart Foti as Design Editor and Kelsy Brawn as Photo Editor. We have been in close contact with this group for the past several weeks and we look forward to seeing the fruitage of their efforts in the fall.

Peace out, Principia.  It’s been real.

Maija Baldauf and Ken Baughman

In 1899, Mary Kimball Morgan and Fannie Ball Perrin had one night to choose a name for their new school before it was to be listed in the directory simply as “Mrs. Morgan’s School.” The women agreed that the name should reference Principle, but they “decided to do some specific metaphysical work to enable them to find the right name” (As the Sowing 54). By the next morning, each woman had written what she thought would be an appropriate name for the school. After sharing their ideas, Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Perrin discovered that they had both chosen Principia.

This anecdote from Principia’s origin highlights the effective decision-making processes upon which this school was founded. Resolutions were reached harmoniously, and communication was open.  And while decisions are not always this clear or crucial, they can still be approached thoughtfully and with an expectation of good.

The past several weeks of Pilot production have been an interesting lesson in the value of effective communication. Without intentionally creating a theme for the magazine, we quickly discovered that many of the articles featured in this issue center around the importance of open dialogue. It might seem like a simple step, but it’s something we often bypass in service of a personal agenda or through lack of initiative.

As much as we hope to encourage open conversation on campus, it is difficult to proceed when channels of communication suddenly close. We understand it might not always be appropriate to publish a story about a contested issue, but we hope our fellow community members understand our purpose in supporting continuing and transparent conversation. Simply because an issue is not fully resolved, does not mean it is inappropriate to discuss in a public forum, whether that be in the Pilot or elsewhere.

It’s important for everyone to feel their opinions are valued, and the Pilot encourages healthy debate. But if we, as members of a close-knit community, hesitate to share our ideas or thoughtfully consider opposing views, we may one day find we’ve wasted opportunities to progress and better understand one another.

Warmly,

Kenneth Baughman
Maija Baldauf

Much of the campus community has heard by now that the bakery in Elsah was shut down after an FBI investigation and ensuing drug bust.  Correction:  This rumor was perversely absurd; the bakery closed due to lease issues. You see, this is Elsah.  Our little village on the river is quiet and we’re pretty sure that’s a good thing. While some Principians may fantasize about witnessing a scene out of Hot Fuzz on Elsah’s sleepy streets, it’s just not going to happen (we sincerely hope this statement doesn’t come back and bite us). Principia’s issues tend to be a bit less dramatic and more thoughtful.

We’ve heard a few complaints that the Pilot is not covering certain issues or being censored by the administration.  Let us assure you that this is not the case. Important issues have been covered and will continue to be covered. However, we choose not to cover an issue when, upon examination, there is nothing there. While working on stories, we often run across and investigate rumors.  But the Pilot is not a tabloid. We verify our facts. That explains why there was no bakery exposé in our first issue and why our article on Campus Security doesn’t describe what kind of taser they use.  You also won’t be finding arrest reports in these pages, if that’s what you’re interested in.

While we are not affiliated with the Christian Science Monitor, we do like their motto:

“ . . . to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.”  In accordance with our mission, our staff strives to be as even-handed as possible and to support the true manifestation of man in our reporting.  This inclination does not mean we ignore facts, but it does help us discern what stories are ready to be covered and committed to print.

The Pilot should be a platform for our community to share news as well as to be a forum for opinions and creative content.  As a magazine, we’re covering fewer time-sensitive “newspaper stories” and including more features on campus issues, events and people. We encourage you to become a part of our effort by submitting a letter to the editor or some creative content.  The Pilot has been a platform for healthy discussions of issues in the past, and we’d like to continue that tradition.

If you are aware of an emerging issue or one we may have overlooked, we ask you to let us know. We need everyone’s help in making the Pilot a publication that serves our campus community in a timely and independent way – an endeavor in which we can all take pride. Our email address is principia.pilot@gmail.com and we would love to hear from you.

We hope that we’ve given you a clearer picture of what the Pilot is and what purpose we hope to serve in the community.  Please enjoy our second issue of the semester.

Sincerely,

Ken Baughman and Maija Baldauf

Principian Gothic

As many of you have likely noticed, this has been a bit of a transitional year for our beloved Pilot.  In just a few short months, we’ve altered our format from a biweekly newspaper to a website to a newsletter. And now we’re finally introducing the Pilot as a magazine. In short, we’ve been through a lot this year.

As representatives of a student-run publication, we have learned to embrace change and ambiguity. We’ve learned that being in flux isn’t always a bad thing; new people join the Pilot staff every quarter, and each one invariably contributes something unique and valuable to the ever-evolving Pilot identity.

Earlier this quarter, we met with our faculty advisor to discuss the future of the Pilot. In the course of the meeting, the suggestion came up that the Pilot ought to develop a mission statement. That way, the community would have a better understanding of what we do, and, in turn, our staff would have a clearer sense of direction and purpose.

The following is a brief summary of the ideas we are considering while building our mission statement:

The Pilot is intended to examine and accurately reflect trends of thought on campus. We will not shy away from issues that directly affect the student body and the campus at large, but we strive to report news and opinions in a way that promotes healing and growth. We see the Pilot as a publication built on love for The Principia and our community. From that basis, we hope to promote positive and consistent communication between our magazine staff and others on this campus.

These ideals relate to the current Student Media Guidelines and Standards, in which Principia journalists are called on to “commit to balanced, fair, and accurate journalism” and “seek intelligent, articulate views from all perspectives.”

Because we are full-time students and not professional writers, designers and photographers, we sincerely request your patience and support. With that in mind, please regard any request to interview with the Pilot as an opportunity to educate an eager listener about an important issue or event about which we may know very little. And if you do feel that we’ve gotten something wrong, we encourage you to contact the Pilot editorial board with all questions and/or concerns.

No matter what the Pilot looks like next month, next semester or years down the road, we are confident that the Pilot’s commitment to honesty, clarity and love for this community will never change.

We are very grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

Warren Curkendall and Maija Baldauf

We’ve already seen fairly significant evidence of positive change this fall semester.  In this first issue of our first semester at Principia, you’ll find a profile on the newly formed Student Senate and its role in increasing communication between the student body and the administration. You’ll also read a number of articles about the newly established Leadership Institute and its role in helping Principians work together effectively.

It’s important to remember that some degree of flexibility is required as we continue to make improvements to the daily schedule, including lunch hours and daily workload, but the good that’s going on every day should not for a moment be discounted.  It is our hope that this good is reflected more than anything else in the following pages.

It is still our aim to point out changes that may not always be serving the community well. But while we may sometimes catch ourselves complaining about a change we don’t understand or haven’t grown to appreciate about this new system, the simple fact remains that this is still Principia, a community that will forever foster growth and love, no matter how daily operations continue to evolve.

As long as we make an effort to remember what that means, we at the Pilot are convinced that this community will embrace and support positive change now and well into the future.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the magazine, and we look forward to contributing more in the future.

Sincerely,

Maija Baldauf and Ken Baughman

In light of recent community issues and challenges on campus, it seems like there is opportunity for a bit of healing at Prin. We love this community, and we know we can always expect progress – that’s why we have things like the [May 19] Community meeting in place. 

We think the Pilot has the power to greatly influence our mental atmosphere, and we could certainly make more of a concentrated effort to metaphysically support the Pilot and our relationship with the rest of this community. It might seem like a pretty obvious thing, but there is definite value in protecting our collective thought as we work to put the magazine together each week.  

Based on a few letters we’ve seen from alumni and our community, it seems like there’s an interest in seeing the Pilot take on more “hard-hitting” topics. While we do want to tackle “real” issues, we strongly feel that the Pilot doesn’t exist just to “stir the pot” or cause unnecessary drama. We all have opportunities to report on tough issues in a sensitive, loving and thoughtful way. With that as our ultimate motive, we can never go wrong.  

The Monitor‘s mission is “To injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” We might not print those words in each issue of the Pilot, but this is an idea we can internalize and put into practice in the coming weeks and years. Our primary goal is that everything we cover in the Pilot – from the Community Board process to athletics to free speech – is presented in a constructive way.  

Our hope is that everyone involved with the Pilot has already taken measures to think prayerfully about our content and campus-wide issues. This email is just an opportunity to refocus our thought so that we can see the Pilot harmoniously through the end of this quarter. 

Thanks so much for your thoughtful support. You are all such a valuable part of our team. 

Maija and Warren 

We hope you enjoy this quarter’s final issue of the Pilot. As always, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on what we’ve produced. Additionally, we would like to thank our readers for their support and enthusiasm. Enjoy!

Post Script Note from Warren –

I would like to take a moment to reflect on my experiences as editor of the Pilot over the last year. This year has been quite the journey for this publication, and I couldn’t have done any of this work without a ton of help – thanks to each of you who were on staff or contributed in some way to the Pilot in the last year. Every quarter has had its own unique challenges and it has been a pleasure tackling them with you.  If I had to leave you with one thing, I would say stick with what you care about. One rainy winter I was randomly recruited to be a Pilot designer. A year-and-a-half later I was an editor simply because I had stuck with it and picked up as much as I could on the way. Dedicate yourself, find a way to make an activity your own and you will make it great.