Daily Nexus

Coordinates: 34°24′45.34″N 119°50′52.73″W / 34.4125944°N 119.8479806°W

One of the old mastheads of the Daily Nexus, used from the '90s until 2006.

The Daily Nexus is a university newspaper on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Before joining the University of California system, for example, Santa Barbara State College had a newspaper called The Eagle. As the institution slowly transformed into the modern UCSB, it adopted various other named for various other news publications, including The Roadrunner, El Gaucho and The University Post. The paper reverted to the name El Gaucho by 1964. In 1967, former El Gaucho editor John Maybury started a competing off-campus paper called "The Isla Vista Argo". Protesters burned down the Bank of America building in Isla Vista in 1970. In the wake of that incident, the paper's editors decided to change the publication's name to the Daily Nexus, in order to "keep with the changing nature of the university." The name was drawn by the paper's 1970-71 editorial board from a quote attributed to Robert Maynard Hutchins: "A free press is the nexus of any democracy."

The Daily Nexus office is situated in the Storke Communications Plaza, beneath Storke Tower and next to the offices of KCSB-FM, the campus radio station. The Daily Nexus is funded by Associated Students, receiving $3.85 per undergraduate student per quarter term.[1]

Daily Nexus highlights

In 1986, while the paper was under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief William Diepenbrock, News Editor Steve Elzer broke the story regarding the investigation into misappropriation of UC funds by then-UCSB Chancellor Robert Huttenback. What had initially begun as a news article regarding the sudden departure of a UCSB vice chancellor eventually ended in an exposé of Huttenback's financial activities. Among other things, Huttenback had used UC funds to repair and improve his privately owned home. Huttenback resigned from his post on July 11, 1986. A review of the incident by the UC President was declared moot and never officially released. The story had been followed by newspapers throughout California, including the Los Angeles Times.

In 1995, the Daily Nexus filed suit against California Governor Pete Wilson and the UC Regents, alleging that the regents had illegally conspired during phone conferences to line up support for the cancellation of Affirmative Action. The suit claimed that the conference was a violation of the Bagely-Keene Open Meeting Act. Then-campus editor Tim Molloy and the Daily Nexus were both listed as plaintiffs. In June 1999, the California Supreme Court ruled that the paper could not continue with its suit, as any suits alleging violations of the Bagley-Keene Act must be filed within thirty days of the supposed violation. The court never actually ruled whether Wilson or the regents had violated the law, however. The suit received coverage in newspapers across the country.

On April 5, 2001, staff writer Brendan Buhler interviewed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams in what turned out to be Adams' final interview before he died.[2] After being published in the Nexus, selections from Buhler's interview were published in Douglas' final book, The Salmon of Doubt. The excerpts were noted as having come from the Daily Nexus.

In 2002, Nexus staff writers Marisa Lagos and Jennifer B. Siverts provided daily coverage of the duration of the quadruple murder trial of David Attias, who had killed four people in Isla Vista by running them down with his car on February 23, 2001. At the time of the incident, Attias had been a freshman at UCSB. In July 2002, a Santa Barbara jury ruled that Attias was guilty but insane at the time of the incident. The Attias case was also covered by newspapers such as Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. It also has been featured in multiple installments of the Dateline NBC news show.

In 2014, the Daily Nexus switched from producing a daily print edition to only a weekly print edition. The Daily Nexus elected to keep their daily title, continuing to release content online daily.

Awards

The Daily Nexus has won a number of awards over the years. In 2009, the Nexus was acknowledged by the California College Media Association in several areas, most notably ranking first for "Best Back to School/Orientation Issue".[3] Nexus writer Evan Sherwood was acknowledged in the "Best Breaking News" category, and Allison Bailey and Evan Wagstaff took second place in the "Best Editorial" category.[3] Sports writer Matt Connolly was also awarded third place in the category of "Best Sports Story".[3] In 2011, Nexus managing editor Lexi Pandell received the California College Media Association's "Best Feature Story" award[4][5] for a piece about five students who died from drug and alcohol related accidents during an 18-month span.

In 2012 [6] and 2013,[7] the Daily Nexus placed 9th on The Princeton Review's list of "Best College Newspapers". It was the only newspaper to be produced by a University of California on the list.

Notable alumni

Some notable alumni of the Nexus (Position at Nexus):

References

  1. ↑ "Spring 2015 UCSB AS Elections Results". Associated Students UCSB.
  2. ↑ "Interview: Douglas Adams". www.dailynexus.com. 5 April 2001. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "2009 CCMA Awards Contest and Banquet - California College Media Association". calcollegemedia.org.
  4. ↑ "Craig Smith's Blog: Gauchos Make Good (Even When Reporting On the Bad)". craigsmithsblog.blogspot.com.
  5. ↑ "Daily Nexus Editor Wins Award for Best Feature". The Daily Nexus.
  6. ↑ "Princeton Review Best College Newspapers: 2012 List". College Media Matters.
  7. ↑ "Best College Newspapers: 2013 Ranking Released by Princeton Review". College Media Matters.

External links