Ever since I saw All the President's Men, I wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to write in a narrow notebook, grill sources for information, and dramatically uncover some kind of corruption. A secret source in a parking garage would also be nice to spice up my investigation.
When I started writing for Wartburg's newspaper, however, the glory of takin' down the man didn't seem so important. I realized it was uncovering the truth, positive or negative, that drove my writing. During my stint as op/ed editor for the Trumpet, I wrote many editorials that forced me to talk to Wartburg's administrators. Some of these editorials confronted tough questions and issues on campus, so imagine how difficult it was at times to get the honest, nitty-gritty truth of the problem.
When it came time to pick a topic for my website, I knew choosing a hard-to-talk-about issue might not be the best route. (Consider that by the end of my tenure as op/ed editor I could barely find an administrator who wasn't weary at the thought of an interview with me...) Yet the natural journalist came out in me. I had questions. I wanted answers. I knew staff and faculty salaries were frozen this school year, but was curious if the freeze had also affected administrators--my bffs in those last days of Trumpet work. This initial question evolved into numerous other questions, especially after looking at tax returns from previous years: will salaries remain frozen? How do faculty wages at the other conference schools compare to Wartburg? Who is bringing in the big bucks at Wartburg and why? How did Jack Ohle come to make over a quarter of a million dollars by the time he reached his last year at Wartburg?
I knew this topic wouldn't be easy. I knew talking salaries would be quite a private topic to approach. I knew that it would be hard to find sources who wouldn't be suspicious of my motives.
But I also knew I wouldn't give up until I had sufficient answers--and the truth.
Plus, my grade depended on it. I didn't really have a choice.
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