Column 2

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for, my second column in the Tufts Daily (link).


Seeing their names in print
Will Ehrenfeld

Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2009


This week’s topic is one close to my heart. As a freshly minted columnist in this fine paper, it should be obvious that I, as much as anybody, really enjoy seeing my name in print. And I’m especially lucky: My beautiful picture also gets printed every Tuesday along with this column. I am not alone, though, in my enthusiastic support of, well ... myself.

Tufts students, more so than students from other schools, appreciate seeing their names in print — be it in The New York Times, The Tufts Daily, or even The New Bedford Standard Times. A friend of mine at Tufts recently sent an e-mail to a large number of friends, asking us to read an article his local newspaper at home wrote about his internship at the White House. “It looks at the experience in a more comprehensive way, not just focusing on my time in the office, but the complete Washington experience,” he wrote, taking himself far too seriously. “I hope you will take the time to read the article.”

That’s one example; I’m sure most Tufts people could add similar anecdotes from their social circles. This e-mail wasn’t particularly off-putting, and the article was moderately interesting — but it’s indicative of a broader issue. Tufts people urgently self-promote like few others. Any publication that has even a very narrow readership (see Source, Primary) attracts many writers, photographers and people with no interest in journalism, so long as they are assured of seeing their name somewhere in print. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a largely ignored magazine or newspaper or if it’s only for serving as assistant copy editor for The Public Journal.

By my count, Tufts has more than ten separate, (relatively) regularly produced publications, ranging from this paragon of journalism, The Tufts Daily, to the lowly, rarely published Forum, a project of the Tufts Democrats (and for which I occasionally write). The vast majority of these projects are funded by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate through the student activities fund, and I suppose the publications are fulfilling the purpose of this fund that the Senate, in its unrivaled wisdom, allots to various student groups. One of the greatest desires of Tufts students is to see their names in print, so maximizing the outlets for this desire is really the ideal use for the money.

Speaking of the TCU Senate ... I’m convinced that the only reason people run for Senate is so that they can enjoy excessive publicity from the Daily. The notoriety attached to such glorious, glorious coverage is not only a big ego boost, but it gives the person being interviewed — let’s say TCU Treasurer Matt Shapanka — the pleasure of feeling superior to the lowly Daily staff writer who has to call Matt on a Sunday night to ask him about the latest development in the saga over the recovered funds. By the way, I’m looking forward to a lengthy thank-you note from Shapanka for the excellent publicity I’m giving him. Don’t forget the little people, Matt.

With this interviewer-interviewee dynamic factored in, I’m a relative bottom-feeder in the publicity scheme, but at least my notoriety is guaranteed. I can write whatever I want in this column, really, and my ugly mug will keep showing up at the top of the page once a week. And here you are, slaving away in the MAB lab to perfect the photo layout in the forthcoming issue of Tufts Traveler. I almost feel bad.

Want to see your name right here in this very column? Contact me with something that you think Tufts people like, and you could provide the topic of an upcoming column.