Dear UB

It's been fun. Occasionally, it's also been rough. Psychology was not very friendly to me. Neither were those late nights studying or that World Civilizations final sophomore year. Those communication classes taught me the same thing and a third of my exams were pretty much a joke.
If I hadn't joined The Spectrum, I probably would have floated through my undergraduate career without ever caring what happened at UB. A lot of students out there bash The Spectrum. (Like UB Memes. Those memes are not as funny as you think they are.) Those same students fail to realize what we do as a student newspaper. Let me spell it out for you:
We tell students what is happening on campus.
I know, it seems so complicated, right? Just like our readers, we are students. We take classes, do homework, and study for exams. The only difference is that we spend our free time trying to keep students informed. We might not have the best writers, but that doesn't stop us from trying. This might sound like a public service announcement for The Spectrum but I assure you it's not.
If I learned anything at UB, it's that most students don't care. (Yes, I know, there are always a few exceptions.) Frankly it makes me angry. UB tried to raise our tuition and barely told us why and when it was increasing. The Student Association Treasurer tried to create an app for students but chose the wrong way to do it. The situation that earned the most student responses? Who headlines Fall Fest.
You pay almost $7,000 or more on tuition, yet you never step up to make your voice heard. I think it's sad that so many students simply don't care what happens. What's even sadder is that I was almost one of them.
As long as I have been at UB I have worked for The Spectrum. If I never signed up my freshman year, I never would have stopped to think about what happened on campus. I would have been clueless and carefree.
The last three years were a blessing in disguise. I'm not going to get sappy, but I will say that The Spectrum was the best part of my life at UB. I met a lot of great people and I'll miss most of them when I move on to the "real world." It had its ups and downs but in the end, it helped shape me into who I am today.
The Spectrum is the student's voice. It's been in publication for about 60 years, and I truly hope it will survive another 60.
To the current staff: Thank you for everything.To future staff: Don't blow it.Love, Meg

Email: meg.kinsley@ubspectrum.com