Dear Editor,

Hello,
I was given an assignment to write a letter to the editor of the Beacon on what we thought of the latest issue. I thought that the paper organised well and all the articles were written very nicely. I did have one thing about it that I thought was a little misleading. There was an article that was titled something like “Apples New 4K Apple TV” what I thought was a little misleading about it was that the Apple TV was only brought up once in the very first paragraph while the rest of the story piece talked about 4K TVs and what HDR meant. Other than that I felt the paper was pretty good so keep up the good work!

Cameron Fogg

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed reading Nicholas Saball’s article “What is the Internet of Things?” I also learned the new term IoT from the small article. The information provided in the article makes you wonder if there are soon to be over 35 million devices connected through the internet all sharing information, at the rate technology increases then there is the issue of AI gaining access to that information. Hacking and security is a big problem with all those devices even if they don’t have a screen they can still be hacked. AI is a threat some of the biggest tech giants have spoken of because of advancements in technology. The thought that AI could connect to the IoT and gain all of that knowledge is startling. As of now though there is not much of anything to worry about when it comes to AI.

As stated in the article our biggest threat right now would be the hackers. The article made me think more about the devices I would purchase because it spoke about how the more expensive more updated devices tend to be more secure which is very advantageous. I use my phone for everything from my banking, social media, recipes, and everything else. So I really enjoyed the article it made me think more about my decisions in the future about what I will and won’t be purchasing when it comes to technology.

Phuntira Tiparos

Dear Editor,

I am writing in regards to having recently read the Nov. 7, 2017 Volume 14, No. 5 issue of The Beacon during a class assignment for Huey’s Intro to Mass Communications course. It had been many months since I had sifted through a copy of the paper and I was heartened to find the overall readability of the product has improved. The quality of the writing seems better, from what I gleaned, and the general layout has a certain je ne sais quoi that feels a bit more polished. These small improvements haven’t drastically altered the feel of The Beacon, with many stylistic elements remaining consistent with previous issues, retaining the unified aesthetic and voice of the paper.

Having said those things, there are a few areas that I think could potentially be further improved upon, mostly regarding layout and editing. The first article on the front page, “Athletic Hall of Fame Inducts New Honorees” seems a bit niche to be the headline story. I feel that placing this article in the sports oriented section of the paper and using an article like the lower front page story, “Massive Wind Storm Uproots Historic Trees” would get more people to pick up the issue and generate more readers. That first article also has a couple of awkward and confusing hanging paragraphs that could have potentially been eliminated by shifting the photo up or down a bit. The article about the wind storm has a few pacing issues, as well, in that it is constantly referencing the reader to other articles within the paper, which distracts from itself and makes for a choppy, unfocused reading experience. Additionally, the pages that the article redirect the reader to do not seem to contain the correct articles being referenced. This seems to be a recurring problem in the issue, as it also occurs on the back page sports articles, which both attempt to redirect the reader to the page that they are on. One article appears to just end abruptly, without continuation at all. Lastly, the featured comic is serviceable as drawn piece, but the content is a bit perplexing, as if there is some context is missing. Perhaps, with its characters referring to spending money and apparently gambling with dice, it was meant to be on the same page as the “Gambling on an Empty Promise” article. Despite this, it does look good on the layout of the page.

I submit these critiques to you with the acknowledgement that endeavoring to publish a newspaper each month, especially while taking college courses, is not a cakewalk.
Overall, I am impressed with the product and it appears to be much closer to a professional level paper than previous issues I’ve read. The compositional aspects feel unified, even down to the advertisements feeling relevant to the pages they appear on.
Other standout features for me were the authentically written Thor: Ragnarok movie review and the eloquent culture pieces interweaved with current events reporting. With just a few tweaks to tighten everything up, I think The Beacon could become elevated to a professional quality product. Keep up the great work going into the new year!

My best,
Justin Brady

Dear Editor,

I found that your paper, once I picked it up had some great elements to it. The logo, darker columns on the sides and the small advertisement-like features made the newspaper stand out. An element’s I would like to suggest, may be beneficial to your growth. In this edition I read, the headliner felt like it could have been switched with the story below it to entice a larger group of people to pick up the paper and read it. The headliner in this edition was about hall of fame athletes or something… I don’t really remember because it didn’t pull me in as well as the second story on the page about the storm. I think that choosing a story about athletes for your cover page doesn’t include all audiences, thus resulting in a smaller amount of people initially picking up the piece in the first place. I suggest placing the athlete story in the sports section and a putting a more diverse piece, that will interest many audiences, on the cover. In this edition of the newspaper I really enjoyed the column on service and emotional support animals on campus. Informing students the difference between these types of animals was super helpful. I also enjoyed the section that talked about events happening on and around campus. Finding out that my favorite coffee shop, Omis, will be opening a second location 5 minutes away from campus, is something I appreciated from this edition. The “What If” section is also really interesting. Letting different students post their own what if stories is a wonderful concept and sparks creativity for the writers. I hope you found this letter helpful, thank you!

Mia Suarez