Newsprint needed

To The Pleiad editors:

When I order a pizza it doesn’t show up in a Styrofoam carton with packing peanuts. And I have yet to go down to the Dow to see someone doing pull-ups in a tuxedo. Sure, it is physically possible to sell pizza in Styrofoam or lift weights in a tux, but there are some things that you just don’t do.

So why is it that I have to read my once-a-week school news on blinding, shiny, stiff non recycled paper? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my traumatic Friday flashback to high school courtesy of The Pleiad as much as the next guy, but I think I’m ready to try something new. Or in this case, something not so new.

News ought to be printed on newsprint. And as far as I can tell, save for the “news” I used to read during my 15-minute lunch period just before fourth hour, it always is. I’ve heard the arguments for originality—Pleiad becomes newspaper sui generis when you print it on obnoxious, heavy construction paper—but I don’t buy it. It never occurred to me to accuse Pizza Hut of being unoriginal because they delivered my pizza in a cardboard box. If you want to be original then write a controversial story and stand behind it; don’t print the news on some expensive glossy paper that students use to line trash cans by 2 p.m. on Friday because they don’t know how, or if it’s even possible, to recycle it.

Print the news on newsprint. It’s cheaper, easier to recycle and more professional. Plus, I can use it to protect my driveway from stains when I’m changing the oil in my SUV. And that’s a reason with which I’m sure we all agree.

Unsigned