Dear JHS.net,

          Let me be one of the first to congratulate Michael Ambrozewicz on his superb article on JHS publications. He was fair and even criticized his own publication, the venerable Plank. I want to present my perspective on the "publication troubles" at Jesuit High School.

         By their nature, JHS publications have been controversial for many years. The staff members seem to be pushing the envelope one way as the administration pulls it the other. Last year, the web site and the newspaper were able to work closely and get much of the content of The Plank on-line. The Plank has very different needs, and needs to have access to a camera all of the time. They can't worry about the possibility that JHS.net may have it and they won't have access to it. The same goes for JHS.net. For this reason, each media outlet should have its own equipment for gathering visual information.

         People will not stop subscribing to The Plank just because it is available on-line. You canšt take your computer and internet connection with you to read it at work, at school, in the living room, kitchen, or anywhere else. The on-line version is not portable. Secondly, not everyone has internet access. In fact, Its my opinion less than 1/2 of subscribers would be able to access it easily enough for them to read it every month. If on-line versions of newspapers took away from circulation, why does nearly every major newspaper in America have one? Putting the Plank on-line will just bring more subscribers, as more people will realize that they want to subscribe after seeing the on-line version.

         I want to set something straight: The Plank has never benefited from any favoritism from the administration because Fr. John Quinn was our moderator. We purchased our extra equipment thanks SOLELY to the hard work of Fr. Quinn himself. He so generously donated his income from team and dance photography to The Plank so we may have up-to-date computers and other equipment. Its an insult to him to assume that we received more money from the school just because he was our moderator.

         Every year there seems to be pessimism about the publications, especially The Plank, and if it can survive, but I trust those in power will ensure a future for a newspaper that has such a rich history and dynamic past.

Sincerely,

Joe Jaszewski, '98
Editor-In-Chief, The Plank, 1997-1998.
U.C. Davis, class of 2002
Independent News Photographer