I am an alum who currently cannot afford a subscription to The Lawrentian because, as we all know, the utility of a liberal arts education cannot be measured fiscally. My education has thus enabled me to have deeply intellectual conversations about literature and social change, but has provided me with little means to obtain money for superfluous purchases. That said, I do have access to the internet, which, I do not know if The Lawrentian is aware of this very significant invention, is a very valuable tool. Back in my day at good ol’ LU, I was able to access The Lawrentian online. Unfortunately, it did not matter much back then because I had the actual newspaper available to me in large quantities.
Today, however, I am not afforded the luxury of accessing the current events at Lawrence over the world wide web. I’m not sure if the folks at The Lawrentian have merely forgotten about this tool, or, if by some ghastly bureaucratic red tape, they are unable to afford (if this is the case, I certainly sympathize with your plight) a webmaster who can so efficiently post The Lawrentian to the web as Eric Lanser used to. Whatever the case may be, I am writing to ask that The Lawrentian be put back online. Maybe the ed board can even table at Downer for current students to sacrifice a meal or two to re-employ a webmaster. (It always worked for Oxfam.) If it’s a capable webmaster you need, I would even be willing to post the Lawrentian online from my apartment (especially if you pay me that hard-earned five dollars per week).
The Lawrentian has always been a way for both enrolled students and alumni to stay connected with the current events on their campus. If you are not posting this information online, you are losing connection with the majority of young alumni who rely largely on the internet to stay informed. What is especially detrimental in severing this tie with alumni is the possibility of losing connection with former students who will one day contribute financially to the university. While I’m only jokingly asking you to table at Downer, I feel very sincerely and strongly about re-connecting with alumni through The Lawrentian. Please do not cut us young alumni off by ignoring the importance of publishing our campus newspaper online. It allows us to stay in touch with the community that was (and in many ways still is) such a significant part of our lives.