Standing just inside the doorway of his newly inherited office, Shawn Wertz looks around and takes inventory before giving the grand tour. The room is roughly 10 square feet, so the trip doesn鈥檛 take very long. Prison cells boast more space, but Wertz, a dual English and professional writing major, is visibly enthused as he maneuvers between the desk and a chair, stepping over his book bag and stacks of clutter toward a large window that looks out majestically onto a third-floor University Center hallway.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 really moved in yet, and a lot of the stuff in here is from the editor before me,鈥� says Wertz, who is in charge of everything editorial as the newest publisher of The Tartan. Wertz is overseeing the weekly student newspaper during its 100th year of circulation, which makes it Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 oldest and largest student-run organization.
It鈥檚 a Tuesday evening, and that means Wertz is riding the weekly roller coaster again. Not that he minds the climb. He is still in the planning stage, before the organized chaos of Friday copy editing and the adrenaline rush of Sunday layout.
While talking about his duties, Wertz multitasks by searching his desk briefly for his toothbrush, a symbol of his dedication. Juggling the demands of the paper and its Web site鈥攑lus homework, five classes, and an internship鈥攐ften means that the aspiring attorney won鈥檛 return home until daylight. 鈥淭his place is open almost 24-7,鈥� he says.
And sleep?
鈥淔ive hours is a good night,鈥� Wertz says with a laugh, before removing his Kenneth Cole eyeglasses to run his fingers through dark brown hair, a young Christian Slater. But unlike inmates and their accommodations, this junior from tiny Bellwood, PA, about 100 miles east of the Oakland campus, has no complaints. He hopes law schools will be impressed with his journalistic efforts.
Since its debut on October 24, 1906, The Tartan has evolved from a four-page tabloid鈥攆illed with football outlooks, slide-rule exercises, and tips for plebes鈥攖o 16 pages of local and national news coverage and opinion. It is supplemented with a 16-page entertainment section known as Pillbox, which was introduced in 2003. For Wertz, The Tartan is more than words on paper. It has been through the death of Andrew Carnegie, two world wars, the massive influx of returning soldiers, the Vietnam War, the 1967 Carnegie Tech-Mellon merger, black power movements, women鈥檚 rights movements, the opening of the university鈥檚 computer science school, and 9/11. For a century, it has been documenting history as it happens.
鈥淥ne thing I tell people is that we鈥檙e not creating a newspaper for our grandfathers,鈥� says Wertz, emphasizing that The Tartan is building a stronger relationship with alumni by offering subscriptions to anywhere in the world. During his open-ended tenure as publisher, Wertz also plans to further enhance The Tartan Web site, , which earned a 2006 Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press for best overall site in the country.
One hundred years of progress begs the question: What would the editor from a century ago think?
鈥淚 would hope he鈥檇 take a look at us and see how far we鈥檝e come,鈥� Wertz says. 鈥淎nd who knows? After some coaching on how to use a computer, he鈥檇 see we have a great Web site, too.鈥�
To subscribe to the Tartan, visit .
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