It’s been no secret that the prioritization process would rattle a few cages. Programs that people love and have poured their lives into have the potential to be compromised, and though nothing has been “set in stone,” as is the mantra of the administration these days, there are still threats. As we come to the final stages of the process, the threats seem more real than ever.

With the Academic Team’s recommendations now on their way to President Warrick L. Carter, I have to defend one program to which I have dedicated the better part of my college career: The Columbia Chronicle. The Academic Team suggests a decrease in resources, with reasoning suggesting a transition to an online publication within two years.

By suggesting this at all, a flaw in the prioritization process is highlighted: Every report that has been released up until now has suggested The Chronicle maintain its resources. Now in the final round, Carter will only have the notes of those wishing to decrease The Chronicle’s resources instead of also referencing the committees who believed resources should be maintained.

The committee created to make the decision should have evenly represented every department in the college to ensure fairness in the blueprints. No one from the Journalism Department was represented on the team, and therefore no one could have truly understood what a college newspaper needs to operate and how it should move forward.

The suggestion to transition completely online is supposedly to keep up with the industry.

While there is obviously a giant shift in journalism to the Internet and multimedia, physical publications still exist and a special skill set outside the realm of digital publishing is necessary to work a publication that has both physical and online components.

As an Academic Team, those writing the recommendations should have assessed the academic value of a school newspaper. While my classes at Columbia have been valuable, I have learned the most through the real-world experience The Chronicle has given me.

The positions available at The Chronicle are already highly competitive, and with reduced resources, there would be even fewer chances for students to experience the educational and professional value the newspaper offers.

While this subject is obviously of personal importance to me, there are plenty of other programs just as important to others that have been unfairly affected by the Academic Team’s Prioritization Blueprints. The process, while a fine idea in theory, failed to prove itself as fair and worthwhile.

Now, after an arduous year of prioritizing, it all seems for naught as the fate of all of Columbia’s programs are ultimately in Carter’s hands. Here’s hoping, for the sake of the student journalists at Columbia, he realizes the importance of a student-run newspaper.