Zach Berman

Sports editor, Asst. Sports Editor, Asst. Copy Editor

Fall 2005-Spring 2007

Before I begin, I think it’s important to note this isn’t my idea. A matter of fact, I find these entirely self-serving. But they’re tradition, and in four semesters if I’ve learned anything about this place, it’s that you shouldn’t mess with tradition. (Nor should you mess with the whiteboard in the news office.)

So here it goes.

Sports staff: I’ll write to each of you individually, and this is neither the place nor the forum. Just know you’re the reason I wanted this job. More important to me than the product were the people who made it every day. I hope you had nearly as much fun working with me as I had working with you.

Ethan: I suspect our careers will be linked for a long time, and for that, I’m grateful. You’ve been a great person to learn from and work with. I hope the next 20 years of stories will be as good as the past two.

Gelb: It’s yours. You deserve it. I hope I helped you however I could. Just remember it’s not always about the paper. It’s about the people, too. Remember you can disagree without being disagreeable. (Coach Wooden said that, of course) And remember that who you are is what earned you the job – and the reason you’ll do well with it.

Schonbrun: You’re a talented man. Step up next year. You have good things to say; you must be willing to say them. Don’t temper your creativity, and don’t underrate how well you can do.

Medina: We’ve worked almost every beat together and have had good times along the way. No one works as hard as you, and if there was a feeling I didn’t appreciate it, I hope this space can in some way rectify that.

Jared: The best compliment I can give you is I don’t think of you like a freshman. That’s a good thing, not just because I think highly of you, but also because you have ample time to keep learning. Don’t forget either one.

Tim: I took the job of assistant copy editor out of faith in you. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I have you to thank.

Rob: As much as anyone else, you enjoy writing. Don’t lose that.

Janela: You have the ability to make other people feel good about their self, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try to learn from it when you were in the office.

Becker, Lieber, Licker, Kilgore: You all took me in as a freshman, accepted me and worked with me. I might be an anomaly, considering I’m leaving this place still loving sports, but I hope you’d nonetheless be proud of the work I did following you guys.

A.J.: I appreciate the way you took over the paper. You were the right person at the right time. And you kept a straight face through most my podcasts.

News office: I tried my best to be involved and show I was interested. I understand your section is different than sports, and though I was not entirely sympathetic to those differences, I’ve always appreciated and admired the effort you put into providing a daily news section.

Feature office: The section keeps improving, and that will only continue. You guys have a good vision with it. Keep following through – the hard work is paying off.

Designers: More than anyone else, I appreciate what all you were able to do, especially for my section. I tried to make sports an easy – and fun – section to work with. Whether I succeeded is up to you. But for what it’s worth, you’re all a credit to the masthead every day.

Copy (so I guess just Jaimie): It’s amazing that you were able to put up with me. I must have made work difficult at times, but understand, if you weren’t able to take it, I wouldn’t have done it. That’s supposed to be a compliment.

Opinion: I didn’t forget – I know you’re a section. You guys had to hear me give Jaimie

grief every night and were good sports about it. I don’t know how you did it. Although I still jeer ‘Cheers and Jeers.’

Art director (so Evan): Cherish that belt. You earned it.

(315): Right idea, difficult market. Nonetheless, I read your section every week and admired your creativity. Plus, you were fun to visit.

Everyone I’ve worked with during four semesters: There are too many of you to credit individually, but I wanted to make sure I had this in here. The office is a difficult place to come to for almost eight hours a night, five nights a week. But you all made it enjoyable – much less bearable. I appreciate everything that every one of you has done to put out a paper where I’m proud to say I worked.

Published on April 30, 2007 at 12:00 pm