The Senior Editors Response to the Latest Plank Issue

       I am at a loss of words. In the latest secret code-filled issue of the Plank, there was an article regarding the lack of cooperation between themselves and JHSnet. While writing a response to such an article could easily boil down to cheap shots and personal accusations, I will do my best to keep the information objective and concise.
       When the Cyber_Plank was founded my Freshman year, led by Mr. "B," whose last name escapes me, it was a small group of computer whizzes with dreams of a strong Jesuit presence on the web. (Despite Mike's article, which stated that JHSnet is in "it's (sic) second year.") The first year resulted in a juxtaposition of mismatched pages, poor images and irregular updates. The site was filled with hard work and dreams, but a central goal was lacking. The next two years resulted in a cleaner and easier-to-use site, and was a runner-up in a local Internet awards ceremony. My participation normally remained a distant relationship because of the lack of organization within the club.
       The Cyber_Plank started this year in the same shape it was left the year before: a mess. Gio Fuoco approached me early in the year about completely redesigning and restructuring the site. With an understanding of the kind of daunting task it would be, I agreed. Gio, myself, and Matt Eagan spent weeks designing the layout on paper, implementing it through our recently acquired software (courtesy of the Student Council), and arranging it in such a way that content could be the focus for the rest of the year and the years to come, making the "posterity" issue less of a problem.
       As we wrapped up the technical aspects, we switched over to content-mode and were faced with an interesting dilemma: the majority of the people interested in JHSnet (former Cyber_Plank) had no desire to write whatsoever, and quite honestly, JHSnet had already been eating up hours a day, so I personally wasn't quite willing to be a major source of content either. Seeing as how the original point of the Cyber_Plank was to be the Plank online, it only made sense that we could turn to that club for additional resources. The original difficulties were technical ones - all computers in the Plank room were Macintoshes, which resulted in incompatibilities with JHSnet's computer in the library.
       The tides turned quickly, though, when Gio and a few members of the Plank staff began to clash. While I remain clueless as to the specifics of the grudges, all I needed to know was that they were there and they were big. Despite these problems, I was "allowed…to use the camera on a limited basis" for the sole purpose of taking a few pictures of the David St. Croix memorial to appear alongside our already-published article. I took the photographs with ease.
Then the situation began.
       While trying to download the images from the camera to the JHSnet computer so I could show Saleem Malik, a group of Plank members entered the room, pulled the camera from the PC while it was downloading, and took it. It appeared that our "constant demand" for the camera (less than one day) was more than the Plank could deal with. One of the many excuses for their behavior was "that newspaper funds purchased the camera." Oddly enough, every member of the Plank had a different story, ranging from stories like "It's Rory's" to "Someone lost a Plank camera last year and felt so bad that they bought this one for us."
       As a result of this verbal merry-go-round, the photographs I took were never made available to me, but did somehow manage to appear in the latest issue of the Plank under Rory's name. If the camera were the only issue, things would not be so bad. Phase two of the Plank's stubbornness was their decision that they didn't want "their publication rights to be violated." This of course went against the original point of the old Cyber_Plank. When asked what he thought of the current situation, last year's Plank Editor-in-Chief Joe Jaszewski got a confused look on his face and spoke words too harsh to be published. In Mike Ambrozewicz's article, he explains that the Plank editors "would lose subscription money if it could be accessed for free" and that subscribers will hopefully take "the cheaper option of subscribing to the paper version rather than spending money on online fees." This obvious contradiction makes it clearer that the Plank's real motivation lay not in what they would like us to think (because it doesn't make sense), but rather in, as I wrote earlier, personal grudges.
       Mike also states that if the Plank's content were to be made available to JHSnet, "the hard work of the newspaper staff would-with a few hours of work on the part of JHSnet's editors-make the web site better." That would be horrible, wouldn't it? The Plank could be online, spreading awareness of the paper, making the writers' and photographers' work available worldwide - with credit given - with crisp color photographs on every page - AND it would increase the quality of JHSnet, which is currently arguably the best student-run high school site in the state, if not the nation. It is obvious why the Plank would have such a problem with this.
       Mike calls the Plank Online section of JHSnet "inferior" because of our "tardiness" in posting it and the "poor layout." That is odd, since when the Plank refused to lend us their content (and NEVER their photographs), we gave them full control of the online version of the paper before Thanksgiving break. With the ability to choose their own layout, content, etc., they have so far done nothing. A criticism of our version of their paper is of poor taste - and the updates are the responsibility of the Plank, not us, so the "tardiness" is not something that concerns us. It seems that communication within the Plank is lacking when they aren't even aware that they themselves are in total control of the entire Plank Online section.
       As JHSnet adds to its growing library of information, we continue to extend beyond simple web pages. With all the behind-the-scenes work, it is important to have cooperation with writers and photographers (both from the Plank and from other individuals) so that the site's content is not neglected.
       The Plank is a quality publication. It has been around and can generally be counted on. With the sudden success of JHSnet, and the rising importance of the Internet as a news media, the Plank cannot afford to be stubborn. The Plank and JHSnet should not be competition - they should be branches of the same tree. I only wish the Plank will change their approach and work with us. My suggestion for next year would be to "merge" the two clubs to avoid these kinds of conflict. If the two journalistic publications could share the same resources, next year's JHSnet would be the best ever, especially since the technical aspects have already been established. Articles could be published as they were written, scores could be posted as they came in - and the print version of the Plank could then choose the best articles/photos that they wanted to use from what was already on JHSnet. Any unlikely subscription cancellations would be made up for by the advertising potential of the web site. If the Plank and JHSnet are going to co-exist, that is the only way to do it and do it well.