About two years ago, the Chimp died. Certainly many, especially among the faculty, staff and even students may have felt that the Chimp's death improved the quality of student media. Others, though, felt that it marked a turning point in student media, one where UCI lost a truly underground, subversive source of expression. I happen to be among that group of students. You see, student media on a university campus is an often overlooked indicator of a campus' activity level.
Student publications are the first things people pick up when they come to a campus.
I know, when I was a prospective college student, I picked up quite a few publications, just to get a sense of what each campus was like. Beyond being a reflection of campus life, student publications educate and inform their readers. Student media plays a large role in fostering and maintaining diversity on campus. Since students from every nook and cranny of the campus participate, student media ensures that various viewpoints and voices ring throughout the campus. Student media creates a dialogue between students and fosters a truly interactive learning environment.