Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Some things never change
Late 1974 was good time for journalism career, reflects former editor
Mike Gerst is the systems editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Late 1974 was an exciting time to be starting a journalism career. Richard Nixon was running roughshod over the Constitution as intrepid, crusading reporters met shadowy sources in dark parking garages, and the future of democracy hung in the balance.

I was editor-in-chief of the TCU Daily Skiff in the fall of that year. The summer before taking over, I remember relishing the idea of having Dick Nixon to kick around while his presidency sputtered to its inevitable, pathetic end. And then he trumped me. He resigned on Aug. 9.

As an intern at the Waco Tribune Herald, my job the day before had been to interview some McLennan County Republican big-wig who assured me in no uncertain terms that Nixon would survive all the scurrilous, unfounded media attacks. That night, as Nixon announced his pending resignation, I sat in a darkened apartment and said to myself, “Great. What am I supposed to put in the Skiff now?”

The big, troubling national issues had finally been resolved. The country was in the hands of the innocuous, unintentionally funny Gerald Ford, Vietnam was over, the economy was pretty good and a six-pack was $1.25 at King’s Liquors. It wasn’t uncommon for Skiff staff meetings to take place at the Berry Street Pizza Inn, where the biggest issue we discussed was how many slices one of us could eat before puking if we suddenly had to jog back to the newsroom. The answer was 23.

When we did make it back from lunch, the problem remained: What could we put in the paper that still mattered to people? After all, Nixon was a pretty tough act to follow.

In retrospect, I think I wound up blowing a lot of petty little things entirely out of proportion, always looking for juicy scandals that didn’t exist. I know the chancellor wished the Skiff would just go away and leave him alone, and I suspect most department head — including Journalism — began to feel the same way.

It all seems so trivial now. We were incensed over things such as being told how many hours a week our girlfriends or boyfriends could visit us in the dorms. Major stories ensued, as they did when we discovered that the Miss Texas scholarship awarded by TCU was shockingly unavailable to male students.

The House of Student Representatives nattered on endlessly about this and that, and, for the most part, we ignored the dorky legislators-in-training. I’m sure we ignored lots of other important things and people, too, but who can remember? After all, we ignored them.

In fact, there’s only one burning issue that jumps easily to mind these days. On a cold autumn day, a goat was bludgeoned with a claw hammer and butchered behind Brachman Hall in preparation for the annual Bilbo Baggins birthday feast. The Skiff bravely took up the banner of defenseless goats everywhere until a rather large jock parked himself in the newsroom and passionately explained why “there ain’t nothing wrong will killin’ a goat,” since it wasn’t uncommon for an athletic dorm residents to use their shower stalls to dress the deer they killed over the weekend with rifles and pickup trucks.

Looking back, it was a much simpler, uncomplicated time, and today I can shake my head and smile at my own naiveté. I’m sorry today’s Skiff staff has been robbed of pleasant memories.

Mike Gerst is the systems editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
He can be reached at (drbombay@star-telegram.com).