Correction appended
At the Associated Students UCLA Communications Board meeting
Monday night, third-year communication studies student Jeff Schenck
was appointed to the position of editor in chief of the Daily Bruin
for the 2006-2007 school year. The board made the decision after
hearing the staff endorsement. The decision is a relative formality
as the board usually choses the candidate endorsed by the staff,
though there have been cases where it has not. The staff
endorsement took place last week after Schenck and another
candidate, third-year political science student Melinda Dudley,
each gave a 20-minute speech followed by a 30-minute
question-and-answer session. “He brings a real operational
focus to the position,” said Ty Tosdal, chairman of the
Communications Board. “He has a convincing long-term position
on where the paper should go.” In his executive summary,
Schenck outlined three major areas in which he would like to
improve the Bruin. These included expanding and improving the
online presence of the paper, focusing the coverage on areas
readers are interested in, and creating a more cohesive newsroom.
“Lately, we’ve lost track of why we’re publishing
the paper,” Schenck said. “It’s become more
formulaic and more reactive. We should work harder to chase the
news and give the readers something exciting to read about.”
Schenck also stressed the importance of enhancing the Bruin Web
site by fixing technical problems and increasing specialized
content for the readers since the online version is already read
more than the print version. “The Web site should be less of
a mirror of the print version,” Schenck said. “It
should become more of its own thing by including more content and
more extensive stories.” Dudley said she would support
Schenck as the new editor in chief and will continue to be
dedicated to the Bruin. “If he’s the choice of the
staff and the board, then he’s more than qualified,”
Dudley said. Current Editor in Chief Charles Proctor expressed
optimism in Schenck’s ability to fill the position. “He
came up with very specific plans about what can be done,”
Proctor said. “He definitely thought it through, and
I’m confident he will follow through with his plans.”
This will be the fifth position Schenck has held at the Bruin. He
joined in fall 2003 as a copy editor and later became a columnist,
assistant viewpoint editor and section editor in viewpoint. He
returned to copy in fall 2005. He has also held positions in the
photography and design departments. “He has a strong sense of
journalism and good sense of what direction the paper is headed and
where it should be headed,” Proctor said. With the approval
of the board and staff, Schenck is confident about what the paper
will become next year. “There is a lot we can improve
on,” Schenck said. “We will have to work really hard,
and that responsibility falls on me.” With reports from
Derek Lipkin, Bruin senior staff.