A Thank You from the Tripod staff

Each semester at the Tripod brings an almost entirely new approach to layout, journalism, and general philosophy of the organization. Because of a standard, but necessary, semesterly staff change, vastly differing perspectives and ideas to the paper, which can be a positive and negative.

As the last fall 2017 issue of the paper goes to print, we would like to take the time to thank everyone who has made The Trinity Tripod a success. Going to the printer each week to create a complex, five-section newspaper is a herculean task that is made possible through the guidance of several professional mentors and none more so than our advisor, Jett McCalister. His assistance with understanding Adobe Indesign and his commitment to hard-hitting, student journalism were greatly appreciated. He was a fantastic resource for all of us. In addition, the Tripod works with countless members of the community to provide accurate and up-to-date information- from Campus Safety, to Chartwells employees, to administration members, to faculty, and many others.

The Tripod is undoubtedly one of the most exhausting extracurricular activities offered on-campus and to rise to the challenge of being an adept section editor is extremely impressive. We were lucky enough to work alongside many editors from the class of 2018, particularly Trip Slaymaker ’18 in Arts and Nate Choukas ’18 in Sports, who provided their guidance and expertise to the process. We were also lucky to work with new, talented editors and the many first-years who took the initiative to get involved with the Tripod. A special thanks also to our senior editors who set the bar before us, particularly Chris Bulfinch ’18, whose leadership early in the semester was invaluable.

The Tripod is particularly thankful for our hard-working copy-editing team. Led by Amanda Hausmann ’21, Alison Cofrancesco ’20, and Elisabed Gedevanishvili ’20, among others, these editors are tasked with picking up the small errors that we make, which, at times, can be a painstaking process. Our business manager, Danielle Bibeault ’19, assisted greatly with the financial management of the Tripod. Her work in advertising took us to a new level of professionalism and we will miss her next contributions next semester.

There are countless unsung heroes that make the Tripod a success. We were lucky enough to have Amanda Lafferty ’21 provide her extensive graphic design knowledge and step in for the Tripod at a time we truly needed her. Similarly, without the work of managing editor Ben Gambuzza ’20 the Tripod would not be possible. He effectively led the copy-editing team, and constantly committed himself to providing quality content.

We are extremely excited for the upcoming semester- readers can look forward to new and engaging changes in layout and articles. Reflecting on fall 2017, the Tripod staff was able to embark on lessons in serious reporting, including trips off-campus to find stories or investigating the incidents that happen at Trinity. A particular highlight was to have dinner with pulitzer-prize winner and editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer Bill Marimow ’69.

As our last issue goes to the printer, we would finally like to thank the Trinity community at large, who served as a helpful (and sometimes necessarily critical) audience. For students that enjoy and follow the Tripod, we cannot stress enough that now is the ideal time to get involved- whether your passion is writing, art, or editing. The Tripod staff will continue our work into the new year and we can promise Trinity that the doors of our headquarters in the Jackson basement will always stay open.

-GMR