When I first took over as the faculty advisor for The Pace Chronicle I knew that the newspaper had problems. There hadn’t been any real news in the paper for years and the stories that were appearing were poorly written fluff.

If you have picked up an issue of The Chronicle during the last six weeks, though, you’ll notice that has changed. There is actual news in the paper. There are stories that are the result of intense reporting and hard work. There are also thought-provoking stories and stories that are of interest to the entire Pace community.

I couldn’t be prouder of the work these kids are doing. The effort is obvious in the results and the staff deserves to be recognized for what they have accomplished.

While I am proud of their work, particularly that of managing editor Cecilia Levine, it would seem that others are not. I am told that there has been a great deal of grumbling in regards to a story that ran in last week’s issue about several student athletes who were attempting to cheat NCAA-mandated drug tests.

It was brought to my attention that some students were trying to intimidate Levine, threatening her as a result of the magnificent and well-reported story she wrote. This was very disappointing, especially since we had to get security and several school officials involved. The parties involved should probably have spent a bit more time looking in the mirror and accepting the consequences for their actions.

Nothing stays hidden for long in this day and age. Someone is always watching, ready to report, whether it’s a national network, a student newspaper or a citizen journalist. To think that their initial actions in trying to cheat a drug test wouldn’t be uncovered at some point is naïve.

What Levine did was simply report. She was fair and even-handed, making sure to cover every angle. She and The Chronicle had no ax to grind with the aforementioned athletes or the athletic department. The same story would have run had it been members of the administration or a dean who had done something wrong. News is news, regardless of who is making it. So rather than being upset with this story getting out, be upset with the fact that this story had to be written in the first place.

I was a student at Pace back in the 1980s and the school newspaper at the time was called New Morning. We tackled issues that weren’t always popular and the administration wasn’t always happy with what we wrote. We got under then chancellor Dr. Edward Mortola’s [the gentleman for whom the library is named] skin more than a few times because we had written stories that weren’t particularly flattering for the university.

Over the years, the newspaper changed names several times and had gotten away from being a real newspaper. I’m confident, however, that the Chronicle staff, guided by Levine, will continue to produce well-reported and interesting stories – both positive and negative – through the end of the semester and beyond.

Rather than being chastised for “blowing the whistle” on a few knuckleheads, Levine and her staff should be recognized and praised for a job well done. The First Amendment is alive and well at Pace and a few embarrassed students won’t be able to change that.

Kevin Czerwinski

Faculty Advisor, Pace Chronicle

Class of ‘87