Sydney Brown- Editor-in-Chief

In August 2017, a freshman version of myself wandered into the dim basement of Murrow Hall, lured by the promise of free cookies at an open house. I had no intention of writing for the school newspaper. I’d been editor-in-chief of my high school paper and decided it wasn’t for me. My mind changed after that open house.

The lack of light here in this basement — especially while enduring dark snow days — in no way reflects the passion here at The Daily Evergreen for journalism. The 2017 editor-in-chief Gabbie Ramos was cool and funny, and I aspired to be exactly like her. I remember sitting in one of those decades-old chairs and thinking: “I’m going to do that one day.”

Nothing really prepared me for the surrealism of attaining this position, though. The editor-in-chief role is an intimidating one, as it requires both managerial and journalistic experience. I’m tasked with finding the best editors, reporters, columnists, photojournalists and graphic illustrators; then I have to curate a newsroom that is both productive and fun, a newsroom that is both relevant and consistent.

So what’s new with the Evergreen? Recently we took on redesigning our entire front, which has been around since before I came to WSU. We’ve been more ambitious with story ideas, utilizing solutions journalism to find real-life examples of community involvement and connection. We also added Roots, a business news-oriented section that has replaced Life (a section I edited in 2018). Sports will run five days a week, Mint is back to Thursdays and Opinion will now have a spot in our paper three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). News will continue to reach toward inclusivity and diversity both in-field and behind the scenes.

None of this will be easy, nor has it been so far. I’ve spent a long time here at the Evergreen — writing, photographing and editing — but it’s hard to say I feel totally prepared for this new role. However, with the help of an amazing team, I am genuinely excited for this new era of the Evergreen we find ourselves building. Past editors have progressed this WSU staple in ways we current editors must acknowledge and be thankful for, but it’s our duty now to keep pushing boundaries of what the Evergreen can do for WSU and Pullman.

We thank you for reading, for being patient when we have made mistakes, for understanding that this is an independent student-run publication that must constantly prove its worth to WSU administration and our own student media board. It’s hard, and sometimes depressing, to keep up with a newspaper in the middle of a dying newspaper industry.

We thank you for supporting us and the investigative journalism we’ve done, for finding value in the uncomfortable truths of those stories.

I’m only here for the semester, so I can’t promise we’ll be perfect all the time, but I can promise that for these next few months, we will make concerted efforts to reconnect to our roots — as Cougs.

Grace Arnis- Managing Editor

Hello Cougs! I am this semester’s Managing Editor. This means that though I don’t have a single section to run, I keep track of the entire paper like it’s my section. However, it mostly means that I spend most of my time in the newsroom.

Before joining The Daily Evergreen staff this fall I spent four years as a rower on the Women’s Rowing team here at WSU. My experiences on the team gave me an appreciation and love for olympic sports and the journalism that surrounds it.  Since I have to spend an extra year at WSU to complete my degrees in Risk & Crisis Communication and Broadcast News, I decided to use all of my newfound free time working at the paper. Before this semester, I worked as the Deputy Sports Editor in the fall and hope to eventually pursue a career in sports journalism after I graduate in May.

Bruce Mulmat- Opinion Editor

Everyone has an opinion, I’m just lucky enough to let people make money for writing opinions.

My name is Bruce Mulmat and I am the opinion editor for spring 2020.

My job is to make readers of The Daily Evergreen read a variety of opinions on topics that affect the community and give people an area to voice their concerns.

My goals for this semester are to keep opinion columns focused on activities, events and other happenings on the Palouse.

I am a second semester senior, so I hope to leave this section set up well for my successor.

Feel free to let me know what you want to see more of by commenting or emailing me at [email protected].

Mindy Malone- Mint Editor

I feel a little out of my depth as Mint editor after just one semester of writing for The Daily Evergreen. What comforts me is knowing Mint’s vague description of “arts and culture” gives me a lot of leeway in my editorial choices.

This semester I’m planning to do more with the “arts” umbrella – introducing fashion, skincare, architecture and interior design. I want to continue Mint’s coverage of physical art, cultural groups and creative content submissions from readers like you.

I dream of the return of booze news, but as of now it seems that’s destined to remain a dream.

I’m Mindy Malone and I’m the Mint editor for spring 2020.

Rachel Sun- Roots Editor

Hi, my name is Rachel. If you haven’t read my letter from yesterday, I’ll be the editor for Roots this semester.

A little about me: I’m a senior journalism and media production major with a minor in creative writing. I grew up here, about a 15-minute drive from the same campus where my dad works. I never really thought I’d end up here in college, but I’m glad I did.

Since I started at The Daily Evergreen in late 2016, I’ve had a hand in pretty much every part of the paper at some point. Most I’m proud of, and the rest, well, were good learning experiences.

This is my last semester, so I’ll be working to pack a punch. You can spot my name on the Roots pages Tuesday and Thursday, but also the occasional byline for news and photos.

If you’ve got a story, I’d love to tell it. You can email me at [email protected] or leave a news tip on our website. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and for you taking the time to read.

Kuria Pounds- Sports Editor

So what’s new with sports nowadays? Well, I’m glad you asked. This semester, it’s all about giving the sports people usually don’t get to read about, athletes you didn’t know about, updates on all the latest breaking news and columns that give the hottest takes in sports.

But first, allow me to introduce myself. Hello, I’m Kuria, and I will be the sports editor for The Daily Evergreen this spring semester.

I am from Bellevue, Washington and I am a sophomore broadcast news major. This is my first time being an editor at The Daily Evergreen and I have been writing for The Daily Evergreen for a year.

We are fortunate enough to be a Division I school, and to have plenty of women’s and men’s sports throughout the school year for students, staff and anyone in the Pullman community to attend.

I get it, there are the main sports everyone knows, like football and men’s basketball, but did you see how well women’s soccer did in the fall? Did you see how one of our athletes for women’s basketball has broke the scoring record for both women’s AND men’s basketball? I know, right!

You can email me at [email protected] for any tips on our website, the Facebook page, Twitter, or even if you just want to say hi! Go Cougs!

Jayce Carral- News Editor

Working at The Daily Evergreen allows me to feel. At risk of sounding disgustingly emotional, the journalism I have produced in that mildly dingy basement has shaped me in a way I did not know was possible.

I had the opportunity to interview elementary school children who gleefully spoke about a national competition they participated in.

I was pulled away from my desk during production late one night to interview a former employee of a beloved drive-in. At the time, I was unaware the story would blow up the way it did.

I poured over numerous documents describing horrendous crimes while swallowing back bile. I completed a nearly six-hour police ride along which began Halloween night. I attended a beautiful celebration of light in an ashram.

I knew I would eventually become The Daily Evergreen News Editor. I have worked so incredibly hard to gain the skills and experience for the position. I am too spiteful and selfish of a person to let it all go to waste.

I have so much respect for my Managing Editor and Editor-In-Chief. I have the utmost trust in my Deputy News Editor who I know will have my back. We all have amazing staff this semester and together, I know we can create some amazing things.

My main goal for this semester is to diversify our content. I want to ensure underrepresented communities find representation in our newspaper. I want to gain back the trust of the students. I want to try to actually have our newspaper be the voice of the students.

Luke Hudson- Deputy News Editor

As a journalist, my most important job is to listen.

For the past few semesters at the Evergreen I felt myself growing deaf to the most important voices in the community and this semester I promise to change that.

By doing more than what is expected, talking to more people and setting a high standard for the writers who work in the News section, I hope to build new relationships with the WSU and Pullman communities.

No newspaper is going to get every story right. Many struggle to get even half right. My hope is that our best gets better and that you never see our worst. We’ll see how it goes.

Emma Ledbetter- Social Media Editor

If you’re reading this, welcome to my letter from the editor. If you’re not reading this, well, this doesn’t apply to you.

My name is Emma Ledbetter and I am the social media and engagement editor for spring 2020. I held this same position last semester and before that I was Mint editor.

My job is to make sure you, a reader of The Daily Evergreen, are as engaged as possible with the content we are producing.

I am informally known at the Evergreen as the “clickbait” editor or the gal who really cares about getting likes and comments. Despite this nickname, my job is not to mislead you with headlines or social media posts.

In fact, it is exactly the opposite. I want to make sure you see the important and interesting parts of a story up front so you can decide whether it is worth your time to read it.

I know that every type of media in existence is fighting for real estate in your brain and I want to help you prioritize what is going to be most applicable to your life.

If we happen to get a lot of “clicks” on a story, that’s great. However, what I really care about is knowing what content is important to the majority of people who read our paper so we can produce more of it.

If you made it this far, I thank you for your click. Feel free to let me know what you want to see more of by commenting or emailing me at [email protected]

Oliver McKenna- Web Editor

I’m Oliver McKenna. I am the current web and graphics editor, a position I’ve held for three semesters. My goal this semester is to create a better foundation for multimedia content from the Evergreen, so expect to see more multimedia projects this semester, such as videos and photo galleries.

As a photographer, I focus largely on sports and action photography. I’ve been lucky to photograph the 2017 Boise State and USC games, as well as the 2018 Alamo Bowl.

I look forward to creating some cool content this semester!

Jacqui Thomasson- Layout Chief

I am in a newly created position for this semester: the Evergreen chief layout editor. The Evergreen has offered a copy chief position for as long as I can remember, but the goal of this new position is to combine a variety of skills from individual layout editors while maintaining basic Evergreen style rules.

With the help of other editors, I spent several days designing the new look of The Daily Evergreen. I am currently a sophomore, seeking double degrees in Business Management and Multimedia Journalism. I worked in an accounting firm for eight years and am now finishing my second year at the Evergreen. I’m excited to continue to work at bringing the newspaper into the new decade.

What began as a photography hobby blossomed into a love for journalism, and the reason for that second degree.

My career goal is a job in publishing that combines my skill sets and two degrees. In the meantime, however, I plan on working at The Daily Evergreen until the day I graduate.

Martha Jaenicke- Layout Editor

My name is Martha Jaenicke, and I am a transfer student from Olympia, Washington. In the past two years, I attended South Puget Sound Community College as a part of the Running Start program.

I am a fine arts major at WSU and started at The Daily Evergreen as an illustrator in fall 2019. As a layout editor for this semester, I hope to improve my skills in design and contribute to the composition of the paper. During this semester, I will be working on the layout of the Roots section.

After graduating I hope to go to graduate school for animation or illustration. In my spare time, I like to collect books and movies, as well as concept design books for film.

Kelly Williams- Layout Editor

Hello to all you lovely people, I am happy to introduce myself to you personally. My name is Kelly Williams and I am a freshman in college finding my way through life right now.

My major is communication with a concentration in journalism and media production. I hope to let my passion for creating and displaying my ideas flourish through not only our Cougar community, but possibly even the world. I am a layout editor for the front page and an illustrator for The Daily Evergreen newspaper. I get to strategically design and produce eye catching visuals for all viewers of our newspaper.

Our minds are drawn to whatever attracts our eyes first, and that is my goal when laying out my section of the newspaper. I am excited to start my journey with The Daily Evergreen, so I hope you enjoy our paper as much as I do.

Mary Russell- Layout Editor

My name is Mary Russell, and I am a new layout editor on The Daily Evergreen staff. I am a freshman at WSU, and I am majoring in International Business and minoring in Spanish. I have been involved in journalism for three years. For my high school’s newspaper, I was a section editor during my junior year and editor-in-chief during my senior year.

Apart from journalism, some of my interests include swimming, baking and exploring new places. As a layout editor, I am excited to create interesting designs and make the readers excited to read what we publish!

Jakob Thorington- Copy Editor Chief

The following quote comes from a University Interscholastic League Copy Editing Contest sample test from 2016-2017.

“AA flight 3339 departs from the metroplex airport at 9:41 pm Wednesday and arrives in the air space above Wichita Falls Regional Airport at 10:04 pm But what happened next depends on whom you ask.”

That was a little hard to read, right? Almost makes you just want to put the paper down or navigate to a different webpage.

If you’re still here, hi. I’m Jakob, and I’ll be the copy chief for The Daily Evergreen this semester. The other copy editors and I will do our best to ensure the paper never looks like the previous quote.

That being said, mistakes in grammar are found at even the most professional and top tier publications across the world. Catching every little detail with thousands of words being published on a tight schedule each night is harder than you would think.

That’s not meant to be an excuse for when it happens, but I hope that reading a grammatical disaster of a paragraph and knowing that we are working at a rapid speed every night to publish does not turn you away from the paper when you see a typo.

We catch a lot and sometimes we miss some errors. That is the nature of the business. We know our work is at its best when you do not realize the structure and grammar of what you are reading.

I wish you all the best this semester, and I sincerely hope you never have to think about my name again.

Katie Archer- Sports Copy Editor

I’m Katie Archer, but you can call me Archie. I am from Corvallis, Oregon. I came to WSU because Oregon State University did not have what I wanted to study, and I refused to go to be a Duck.

I am a senior strategic communication major. I am the sports copy editor this semester. I have worked at The Daily Evergreen for a year and a half. I started out as a reporter covering sports for a year and was the sports editor fall semester. I love sports, and my favorites are baseball, football and soccer.

Outside of the Evergreen and sports, I enjoy spending time outside, reading and traveling. My goal is to visit all the states before I am 30. I am 26 and have visited 28 states. One of my favorite trips was going to the baseball NCAA College World Series in 2018.

Jacob Hersh- Copy Editor

To my legions of fans: hello. To my mother, if she reads this: please send me my phone charger that I left in the car during winter break. My name’s Jacob Hersh, I’m one of the Evergreen’s new copy editors, and I’m also an opinion columnist.

My opinions are unmatched in their constant correctness, and my propensity for spell-checking and grammar correcting has lost me many a friend in my 18 years alive. Rather than change my behavior, I decided to take it to the next level, and became a copy editor, spell-checking and style-correcting to make some extra cash, which I turn around and spend on cool pens. I prefer the 0.5 mm G2 Pilot rolling-ball, if anyone’s curious.

I’m excited to write more columns, to do more work for the paper and to further my ultimate goal: establishing a rival campus newspaper called the Daily Nevergreen, that is functionally the same as the current one, but every fact is just slightly wrong.

Joel Kemegue- Copy Editor

Hi! My name is Joel Kemegue, I’m one of the new copy editors this semester, meaning that when the articles are written, I’ll be checking them for grammar, spelling, plagiarism and all that fun stuff.

This is my first time doing copy editing but if you notice any mistakes, it wasn’t me. I started out writing a lot of satire for The Daily Evergreen, and I still write articles for Roots and Mint, so if you notice anything especially good in those sections, it was me.

I’m a freshman English major with a creative writing concentration. I like reading, writing, watching movies and procrastinating. I am either hilarious or atrociously unfunny and never in between. Usually the latter.