Bates Magazine<\/em> took advantage of a readership survey tool offered by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. We asked alumni, parents and friends much the same thing: What do you want? What are you interested in?<\/p>\nThe results mirrored the Facebook discussion. While you expressed strong interest in staying connected with each other \u2014 through class notes, stories about alumni careers and obits \u2014 the topics that you are \u201cvery interested\u201d or \u201cinterested\u201d in have to do with campus life.<\/p>\n
\u2022 faculty selection, promotion, retirements (86 percent)<\/p>\n
\u2022 campus controversies (75 percent)<\/p>\n
\u2022 history and traditions (74 percent)<\/p>\n
\u2022 facilities and growth (73 percent)<\/p>\n
\u2022 student achievements, issues and opinions (71 percent)<\/p>\n
One reader summed up all the data: \u201cFocus on the following things: (1) Pictures, old and new; (2) people on campus; (3) controversies or big deals on campus (4) plans for new buildings or other changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seventy percent of you prefer to read the print issue, and 11 percent prefer online \u2014 but 19 percent want both. So we\u2019re also revamping the online presence of Bates Magazine<\/em>, trying to answer the riddle of how to meld the editorial efficiency of blog-style news posting with the compelling design of the print magazines.<\/p>\nMaybe the survey and Facebook comments are obvious \u2014 a version of \u201cIt\u2019s the economy, stupid.\u201d Still, it reinforces that you want to have a conversation about Bates today, and you want it in the Bates vernacular: smart, authentic, inclusive, friendly and practical.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve learned less self-evident things too. Last fall at the President\u2019s House, a group of Bates faculty, staff and alumni talked about the magazine\u2019s role in campus and community life.<\/p>\n
\u201cLewiston is part of the Bates story,\u201d said multifaith chaplain Bill Blaine-Wallace. CJ Conrad \u201990, vice president at a local bank, took it a step further. \u201cDon\u2019t apologize for Bates\u2019 place,\u201d she said. So that\u2019s why we have a Bates in Brief section devoted to Lewiston.<\/p>\n
Lately, Bates landscaper Bill Bergevin has been in busy, pre-Commencement mode, and the other day he was putting down black mulch outside Chase Hall. Besides keeping weeds down and moisture in, he said, mulch highlights your plants and flowers.<\/p>\n
Similarly, we hope the magazine\u2019s new design helps colorful Bates stories catch your eye. And like the occasional need to rearrange your spice cabinet, we hope the magazine delivers Bates stories a bit more efficiently, whether it\u2019s the story about President-elect Clayton Spencer, the fate of Memorial Commons or photographs of campus haunts.<\/p>\n
So\u2026please enjoy this Bates garden. And let us know what you think.<\/p>\n
H. Jay Burns, Editor
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