The Quaker Campus: Whittier College Student Readership Survey

The Quaker CampusWhittier College Student Readership Survey

April, 2005

Principal Investigators

Caroline Heldman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Political Science

Josh Lowensohn

Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

The Quaker Campus

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Project Managers

Erinn Carter

Beth DuVall

Benpramar Laitflang

Natalie Medallin

Sarah Oliver

Jessica Stowell ^

Lisa Ybarra

Research Assistants >

Peter Aiello, Ervin Amiel, Swati Balakrishnan, Steven Ball, Lauren Bourgoyne,

Kimberly Charlson, Allison Corona, Genaro De La Cerda, Cecelia Fortner, Jessica

Gardezy, Meghan Guarino, Christopher Harris, Georgia Hirsty, Alexander Ivezaj, Nathan

King, Jody Kitterman, James Marshall, Nicole Martin, Robert Ortega, Piyusha Perera,

Cirenia Ramos, Kathleen Repine, Heather Rodgers, Chanyn Sanchez, Pablo Sanchez,

Christine Sardo, Nvard Sargsian, Jose Suarez, Clinton Swift, Chaznae Waters, and

Andrew Yamauchi.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Project Overview 4

Survey Methodology 5

Sample Description 7

Major Findings 9

Overall Readership of the Quaker Campus 9

Where Students Get the Quaker Campus 12

Readership of Quaker Campus Major Sections 13

Readership of Quaker Campus Special Sections 15

Overall Satisfaction with the Quaker Campus 19

Satisfaction with Major Sections of the Quaker Campus 19

Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections 22

What Students Like about the Quaker Campus 26

What Students Dislike about the Quaker Campus 27

^ . Accuracy of the Quaker Campus 27

Perceptions of Accuracy in Quaker Campus Quotes 29

Suggested Changes for the Quaker Campus 32

Over- and Under-Representation of Groups 33

Student Knowledge and Use of the Quaker Campus Website 36

Appendix A: Annotated Questionnaire 38

Appendix B: Fielding Instructions 49

Appendix C: Cleaning, Coding, and Data Entry Instructions 50

Appendix D: Codebook 51

Appendix E: Verbatim Responses 60

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Executive Summary

This report details the results of the Quaker Campus readership survey. Whittier

College students were randomly selected and asked about their experiences, opinions,

and behaviors pertaining to the student newspaper during the spring semester of 2005.

These results are representative of Whittier College students.

Most Whittier College students read the Quaker Campus on a regular basis. Six-

in-ten students say they regularly read the paper, while one-third say they read

the Quaker Campus "sometimes."

The Quaker Campus is more frequently read by students who live on campus,

upper-class students, and males.

The most popularly read sections are Campus Life and Sports. The News section

is the least read of the six major sections in the Quaker Campus.

When it comes to readership of special sections, the Crime Log and Cheers and

Jeers are the most popular. Few students read the COR Minutes special section.

Over half of Quaker Campus readers are satisfied with the newspaper overall.

One-quarter are dissatisfied with the student newspaper.

Students who live off campus and Latino students are more satisfied with the

Quaker Campus than other students.

Students are most satisfied with the Campus Life section of the newspaper. The

Opinions section has the highest rate of student dissatisfaction.

Forty percent of Whittier College students perceive the Quaker Campus to be

accurate, while one-third of students think accuracy is lacking.

When asked what they would like to see more of, students prefer expanded

coverage of career-oriented and graduate school articles.

One-in-five students think that certain groups on campus are over-represented in

the Quaker Campus, namely, sports teams and student government.

One-third of students think that certain groups on campus are under-represented

in the Quaker Campus, namely, societies and sports teams.

Only one-quarter of Whittier College students know that the Quaker Campus has

a website.

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Project Overview

This project is a comprehensive assessment of Whittier College students' opinions

about the Quaker Campus, the college's student newspaper that was established in 1914.

Approximately 30 students produce the Quaker Campus each week - from generating

advertising revenue to covering events and world news. The newspaper's student staff is

advised by professor and journalist Dr. Gary Libman. Allison Roth and Dustin Ray serve

as co-editors-in-chief, and Patrick Holmes is the managing editor of the student

newspaper.

Whittier College was established in 1887 by The Religious Society of Friends,

and has grown to its current size of approximately 1,300 students. The College prides

itself on engaging in learning beyond the classroom, and this project exemplifies

Whittier' s emphasis on praxis. This report represents a collaborative effort between

students in Dr. Caroline Heldman's Political Methodology class, students in Dr. Daniel

Duran's Operations Management class, and the Quaker Campus staff. Student research

assistants worked on the project from start to finish, including revising the survey,

selecting the sample, fielding the survey, data entry, and data analysis. Professionalism

was stressed at every step of the process, and the results presented here are scientifically

representative of the behaviors, attitudes, and opinions of Whittier College students.

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This project began as a directed study for Quaker Campus staffmember and

Principle Investigator Josh Lowensohn during the 2005 Winterim. A solid draft of the

questionnaire was developed over the winter term and revised several times during

February and March of 2005 by research assistants, project managers, and the principle

investigators. The questionnaire was pre-tested twice on a student population to improve

its readability and quality. A copy of the final questionnaire with percentages for each

question is located in Appendix A. ' -

The survey was fielded from March 1 to March 1 1, 2005, to thirty randomly-

selected classes from the complete list of courses offered in the Whittier College catalog.

Faculty members selected for participation in the project were contacted by the Dean of

Students via email one week prior to the fielding period to ask for their participation.

Only one professor out of the thirty decided not to participate in the survey, and another

professor could not participate because the class selected was a sports team that was no

longer meeting because their season had ended. These two classes were replaced by two

additional classes that were randomly selected from the course list.

Ten research assistants fielded (administered) the Quaker Campus survey. Prior

to the actual fielding process, a number of meetings were held to standardize what was to

be said and done in every class. A handout was created to inform potential student

respondents about the purpose of the survey and the incentives they might win if they

chose to participate. An additional meeting was held so the research assistants could

separate all the surveys into manila envelopes by course name and instructor. Research

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assistants were asked to dress professionally when administering the surveys so students

would take the survey seriously and professors would see the importance of the project.

Research assistants who administered the survey introduced the project to each

class using the informational sheet found in Appendix B. Whittier College students were

offered an array of incentives for participating in the project, including free pizza for two

months, gift certificates to local restaurants, Starbucks coffee, and an i-Pod. These

incentives inspired nearly 1 00 percent participation among the students present in each

class. High participation rates by both professors and students produced a sample that is

representative of the demographic composition of Whittier College students as noted in

the next section. --(

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Sample Description

Given the scientific method used to randomly select the sample, it is not

surprising that the demographic distribution of the sample mirrors that of the larger

population from which it was drawn. A total of 306 surveys were completed, netting a

margin of error of +4.4%.' As shown in Table 1, there are no significant differences

between the sample and the larger Whittier College population. ,.

Table 1: Sample and Population Comparison

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Referring to Table 1 , there are a few small differences between the sample we collected

and the larger population that are worth noting. First, the sample contains more female

respondents (people who took the survey) than the larger Whittier College student

population. However, the gap between the sample and the population is too small to be

statistically significant. Additionally, while a greater percentage of White students

completed the survey than exist in the larger population, the difference is not significant.

Given this, we conclude that the sample reflects the population in terms of living

situation (on versus off-campus), class standing, gender, and race/ethnicity. Therefore,

the results presented in this report are representative of the attitudes, opinions, and

behaviors of Whittier College students. The next section presents the major findings of

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^ ; ', .?,. Major Findings

Student respondents to the survey were asked a total of twenty-five questions

about their overall readership of the newspaper, readership of major and special sections,

where students get their copies of the paper, overall satisfaction with the Quaker Campus,

satisfaction with specific sections of the paper, accuracy of the paper, experiences being

quoted in the Quaker Campus, what students like most and least about the paper, what

they would change about it if they could, and knowledge and use of the newspaper's

website. Each of these topics is discussed in turn.

Overall Readership of the Quaker Campus

The Quaker Campus enjoys consistent readership from most Whittier College

students (Chart 1). Six-in-ten students say they always (29.4%) or often (3 1 .8%) read the

paper, while one-third (33.4%) say they read the Quaker Campus "sometimes."

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Chart 1: Overall Readership of the Quaker Campus

Never, 5.4%

Sometimes,

33.4% Always,

29.4%

Often, 31.8%

While 95 percent of Whittier College students say the read the student newspaper at least

sometimes, approximately 5 percent say they never read the Quaker Campus. When

asked why they do not read the paper, this small number of students gave varying

responses, from "not on campus very often," "I live off campus," "do not live on

campus," to the more negative "I think your articles are lame" and "lack of school spirit."

Significant differences are found in readership of the Quaker Campus by living

location, class standing, and gender. Differences in readership level were not found with

race/ethnicity. As Chart 2 indicates, students who live on campus are significantly more

likely to read the Quaker Campus regularly (meaning "always" or "often") than students

who live off campus (p<.05).^

^ The p-value or probability value tells us whether the difference we find between groups is statistically

significant. If the p-value is less than .10, the difference is statistically significant. For a simple

explanation of how this statistic is calculated, visit http://www.sportsci.org/resource/stats/pvalues.html.

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Chart 2: Regularly Read the Quaker Campus by Living Situation

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In terms of class standing, upper-class students are more likely than first-year

students to be regular readers of the Quaker Campus. Sophomores (70.7%), juniors

(59.3%), and seniors (64.6%) are significantly more likely than first-year students

(49.4%)) to read the newspaper "always" or "often" (p<.05).

Gender differences also surfaced in terms of regular readership of the Quaker

Campus (Chart 3). Two-thirds of male students (66.9%)) report that they are regular

readers compared to 57.1% of female students (p<.10). Furthermore, female students are

much more likely to report that they "never" read the Quaker Campus than men (7.9%

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Chart 3: Regular Readership of the Quaker Campus by Gender

Male Students

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~ is read regularly by 54 percent of students, followed by the Sports (49.7%), Arts and

Entertainment (44.5%), Opinions (44.0%), Campus Calendar (40.2%), and News (37.8%)

sections.

Differences in regular readership of these different sections were found by living

location, gender, and race. Students who live off campus are far more likely to read the

Campus Calendar section of the Quaker Campus than students who live on campus (50%

compared to 34.9% percent) (p<.05).

A greater percentage of female students (46.3%) are regular readers of the

Campus Calendar than male students (31.2%) (p<.10). However, male students are

significantly more likely to regularly read the News section (42.6% compared to 34.1%)

than female students (p<. 10). Furthermore, male respondents are far more likely to be

regular readers of the Sports section than female respondents (66.4% compared to 38.6%)

(p<.05)(Chart4).

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Chart 4: Regular Readership of the Sports Section by Gender

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Gaps in rates of readership by section were also found by racial/ethnic group. We

are not able to compare across all groups given the small number of some (e.g., African-

Americans and Asian/Pacific Islander), but our data do allow us to compare the two

largest groups on campus: Latinos and Anglo-Whites (Chart 5). We find that Latino

students (50.0%) are significantly more likely to be regular readers of the Campus

Calendar section than White students (34.5%) (p<.05). Latino respondents also read the

Arts and Entertainment section at higher rates than Anglo-Whites (56.8% compared to

43.8%) (p<.05). The gap flips when it comes to readership of the Sports section. Well

over half of White students read the Sports section (54.6%) compared to four-in-ten

Latino students (4 1 .2%) (p<.05).

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Chart 5: Regular Readership of Different Sections by Race/Ethnicity

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Readership of Quaker Campus Special Sections

Student respondents were also asked about their readership of eleven special

sections from the Quaker Campus: The Crime Log, COR Minutes, Comics, Staff

Editorials, Cheers and Jeers, Cribs, On Edge, Beer of the Week, Sound Bytes, Sports

Shout, and Fanatic (Chart 6.) Among Whittier College students who read the Quaker

Campus at least sometimes, the Crime Log (56.1%) and Cheers and Jeers (54.5%) are the

most popular. Few students read the COR Minutes special section (10. 1%).

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Chart 6; Regular Readership of Quaker Campus Special Sections

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Crime Log Cheers Comics Sports Fanatic Beer of Staff Sound On Edge CORand Jeers Shout the Weel( Editorials Bytes Minutes

Differences in regular readership of the special sections were found along the

lines of living location, gender, and race/ethnicity. Seven percent of students who live on

campus say they "always" read the Staff Editorial section compared to no students who

live off campus (p<.05). Similarly, six-in-ten students who live on campus (58.5%)

regularly read the Cheers and Jeers section, compared to just under half of students who

live offcampus (49.0%) (p<.05).

The Cheers and Jeers section warrants special attention due to the number of

differences found in readership among groups. First, this special section is less popular

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among first-years students (38.0%) than upper-class students (ranging fi-om 56.7% to

65.5%). Secondly, Cheers and Jeers is significantly more popular among female students

(60.5%) than male students (46.3%) (p<.05). Lastly, Lafino students (52.9%) read this

special section regularly at a much higher rate than Anglo-White students (39.7%)).

Additional gender differences were found in readership of special sections. Only

one-quarter of female students (25.9%)) read the Beer of the Week section regularly

compared to 40.2 percent of male students (p<.05) (Chart 7). Similarly, fewer female

students (19.4%) regularly read Sound Bytes than male students (28.7%) (p<.05). Male

respondents are also much more likely to be regular readers of the Sports Shout and

Fanatic special sections (see Chart 7). :' '•

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Chart 7: Regular Readership of Special Sections by Gender

47.7% 47.7%

28.7%

Beer of the Sound Sports

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Many significant racial/ethnic differences exist in readership of Quaker Campus

special sections. Latino students are less likely than their White counterparts to regularly

read the Crime Log section (52.9% compared to 60.0%) and the Beer of the Week section

(28.8% compared to 37.4%) (p<.05). Conversely, Latino students are more likely than

White students to be regular readers of On Edge (32.0% compared to 19.4%)) and Sound

Bytes (29.4% compared to 20.7%) (p<.05).

Given these findings, it is clear that the Quaker Campus is not the same

newspaper to everyone. Students of different backgrounds and living situations read

certain sections more than other groups on campus. The next section delves into student

satisfaction with various aspects of the Quaker Campus.

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Overall Satisfaction with the ^ttoAer Cam/>MS

Over half of Quaker Campus readers are "very satisfied" (9.2%) or "somewhat

satisfied" (43.6%) with the newspaper overall. Fewer than one-in-five readers of the

paper express dissatisfaction, with 1.8 percent being "very dissatisfied" and 17.9 percent

reporting that they are "somewhat dissatisfied." About one-third of Quaker Campus

readers say they are neutral when it comes to satisfaction (27.5%). No significant

differences are found in satisfaction when it comes to class standing and gender.

However, students who live off campus (64.0%) are far more likely than students who

live on campus (47.3%)) to report satisfaction wdth the Quaker Campus (p<.05).

Additionally, Latino students (60.0%) are significantly more likely to report satisfaction

with the newspaper than Anglo-White students (52.9%) (p<.05).

Satisfaction with Major Sections of the |2««*^'' Ca/w/JMS - -

Whittier College students who read the Quaker Campus were asked about their

level of satisfaction with each of the six major sections of the student newspaper.

Students are most satisfied with the Campus Life section (45. 1 %), followed by

approximately one-third of students who report satisfaction with the other sections (see

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Chart 8: Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Major Sections

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Campus Life Arts and Campus Opinions

Entertainment Calendar

News Sports

In terms of dissatisfaction, students who read the newspaper rated the Opinions

section most negatively (21.7%), followed closely by negative ratings for the Sports

section (18.5%), and the News section (1 5.2%). Around ten percent of Quaker Campus

readers are dissatisfied with the Campus Calendar, the Arts and Entertainment section,

and the Campus Life section, respectively.

Level of satisfaction with the six major sections of the student newspaper varies

by living location, gender, and race/ethnicity. Students who live off campus are more

likely than students on campus to report satisfaction with the News section (41.1%

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compared to 29.0%), the Campus Calendar (55.9% compared to 33.9%), and the Campus

Life section (42.1% compared to 43.4%) (all differences significant at the .05 level).

When it comes to gender differences, female students report higher satisfaction

than male students for the Campus Life section (49.0% compared to 41.0%) and the Arts

and Entertainment section (42.1% compared to 33.9%) (all differences significant at the '

.05 level) (Chart 9). Male respondents (38.5%) are significantly more satisfied with the

Sports section than female respondents (28.7%) (p<.05). ...

Chart 9: Satisfaction with Major Quaker Campus Sections by Gender|_

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Sports

Satisfaction with major sections of the Quaker Campus also vary by race/ethnicity

(Chart 10). White students (42.8%) are much more satisfied with the Opinions section

than Latino students (25.4%) (p<.05). Latino students are significantly more satisfied

with the Arts and Entertainment section than White students (54.9% compared to 39.9%)

(p<.05).

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Chart 10: Satisfaction with Major Quaker Campus Sections by Race/Ethnicity

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Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections

Respondents were also asked about their level of satisfaction with the eleven

special sections included in the Quaker Campus (Chart 1 1). Students who read the

newspaper at least "sometimes" report highest satisfaction with the Crime Log (53.8%)

and Cheers and Jeers (50.2%) sections. Few students reported satisfaction with the COR

Minutes section (13.7%).

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Chart 11: Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections

Crime Cheers Cribs Comics Beer of Sports Fanatic Staff Sound On Edge CORLog and Jeers tlie Week Shout Editorials Bytes Minutes

Differences in satisfaction with the different special sections of the newspaper

emerge with living location, class standing, gender, and race/ethnicity. Students who live

off campus are more likely than those who live on campus to be satisfied with the Staff

Editorial section (35.1% compared to 27.1%) (p<.10). In terms of class standing, first-

year students (39.7%) are significantly less likely to report satisfaction with the Cheers

and Jeers section than other students (ranging from 51.8% to 58.1%) (p<.05). On the

other hand, first-year students are more satisfied with the On Edge section and the

Fanatic section than other students (see Chart 12).

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ii - ;-'/i \->.: '. ..I.

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Chart 12: Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections by Class Standing

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

28%

38%

m±2Lll% 20%«2^ ^ >2lt^

2B%

a22%

First-Years

Sophomores

DJuniors

D Seniors

Campus Life Fanatic

Satisfaction with special sections of the Quaker Campus also varies by gender

(Chart 13). Female students who read the newspaper are more satisfied than male

students with the Comics section (41.3% compared to 30.2%) and Cheers and Jeers

(65.7% compared to 42.8%) (all differences significant at at least the .10 level). Male

students are more satisfied than their female counterparts with the Beer of the Weelc

section (40.0% compared to 29.6%), Sound Bytes (30.7% compared to 23.4%), Sports

Shout (41.5% compared to 27.6%), and the Fanatic section (41.5% compared to 22.9%)

(all differences significant at the .10 level).

24

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Chart 13: Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections by Gender

Comics Cheers Beer of Sound Sports Fanatic

and Jeers the VJeek Bytes Shout

BMaleStudents

(FemaleStudents

Racial/ethnic differences also emerged in terms of satisfaction with special

sections of the Quaker Campus (Chart 14). Anglo-White students report higher

satisfaction with the Crime Log (56.2%) than Latino students (5 1 .0%) (p<.05). White

students are also more satisfied with the Cheers and Jeers section (56.1% compared to

42.0%), the On Edge section (23.3% compared to 16.0%), and the Beer of the Week

Section (40.6% compared to 26.0%) (all differences significant at the .05 level).

25

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Chart 14: Satisfaction with Quaker Campus Special Sections by Race/ Ethnicity

Crime Log Cheers On Edge Beer of the

and Jeers , ., Week

M Latino

Students

I WhiteStudents

Differences in satisfaction with major and special sections of the Quaker Campus

generally coincide with readership levels of each section. That is, groups who are less

satisfied with specific sections are less likely to read those sections.

What Students Like about the Quaker Campus

Respondents were asked an open-ended (fill in the black) question about what

they like best about the student newspaper. Verbatim responses to this question can be

found in Appendix D. Their answers typically included a major or special section,

namely. Cheers and Jeers, the Crime Log, Beer of the week, and Sports: "Cheers and

Jeers rock my socks," "Crime Log to see if I'm in it." Respondents also made comments

about the staff and general comments about the paper's value: "It's obvious that the staff

is enthusiastic and I like that," "Gives students a chance to voice their opinions," "I like

26

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the writing." More than one student made specific mention of the high quaHty of articles

written by Danielle Omer, Christine Gutierrez, and Kevin Perez. Survey respondents

also mentioned the buy-one-get-one-free movie tickets at the local movie theater when

asked their favorite aspect of the Quaker Campus.

What Students Dislike about the Quaker Campus, ,

Student respondents were also asked what they dislike about the school

newspaper. Verbatim responses to this question can be found in Appendix D. Responses

ranged from tame ("all the boring stuff," "too biased," "the writers") to vitriolic ("I don't

like articles about arrogant people, writing stories in the '2" person' about themselves,"

"Its 'wanna be a real paper' attitude when it really sucks"). It is worth nothing that a

sizable number of students wrote in comments about accuracy in response to this

question, but this is likely the result of priming from a previous question regarding the

accuracy of the paper.

Accuracy of the Quaker Campus

Respondents were asked a series of questions pertaining to the accuracy of the

Quaker Campus. More specifically, students were asked about the accuracy of their

quotes in the paper, and the overall accuracy of the publication. The Quaker Campus

generally receives high marks in terms of accuracy (Chart 15). Over forty percent of

students think the newspaper is "very" or "somewhat accurate" (41.7%), while one-

quarter are neutral on the subject. Thirty percent think the newspaper is "somewhat

inaccurate," while 3.3 percent say it is "very inaccurate."

27

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Chart 15: Perceptions of Overall Accuracy of the Quaker Campus

Significant background differences appear with regard to perception of overall

accuracy of the Quaker Campus. Over half of Whittier College students who live off

campus find the newspaper to accurate (54.0%) compared to only one-third of students

who live on campus who report the same (34.3%) (p<.05). Furthermore, seniors (49.2%)

are significantly more likely than lower-class students (ranging 38.7% to 40.7%) to report

that the Quaker Campus is accurate (p<.05).

28

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Perceptions of Accuracy in Quaker Campus Quotes

Accuracy was also measured regarding student quotes in the school newspaper.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents report that they have been quoted in the Quaker

Campus at some point. Students who live on campus are significantly more likely to be

quoted than those who live off campus (40.7% compared to 29.7%) (p<.05). Not

surprisingly, the longer a student attends Whittier College, the greater their chance of

being quoted in the student newspaper (28.9% of first-years compared to 51.7% of

seniors) (p<.05). A student's likelihood of being quoted in the Quaker Campus does not

vary by gender or race/ethnicity.

Whittier College students generally believe that they have been accurately quoted

in the student newspaper. Chart 16 shows a breakdown of students who have been

quoted, and student perception of quote accuracy.

29

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Chart 16: Accuracy of Student Quotes in the Quaker Campus

Quoted

Inaccurately,

8.7%

Quoted

Accurately,

28.7%Never Been

Quoted,

62.5%

Among students who have been quoted in the Quaker Campus, 76.7 percent

believe their quote(s) to be accurate. Fewer than one-in-four respondents say they were

inaccurately quoted (23.3%).

Student perception of accurate quoting in the Quaker Campus is linked to overall

satisfaction with the publication (Chart 17). Among students who have been quoted, 68.5

percent ofthose who feel they were quoted accurately are satisfied with the Quaker

Campus compared to 43.4 percent satisfaction among those who feel they were not

quoted accurately (p<.05).

30

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Chart 17; Overall Satisfaction with the Quaker Campus by Accuracy of Quote(s)

Students who believe they have been quoted accurately in the Quaker Campus are

much more likely than those who believe they have been inaccurately quoted to give the

newspaper high grades in terms of overall accuracy (Chart 18). Among students who

have been quoted, 43.2 percent of those who feel they were quoted accurately think the

Quaker Campus is generally accurate compared to 34.8 percent of those who feel they

were not quoted accurately (p<.05). . J,:^ :^ .'. : ;i

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31

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Chart 18:

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Respondents were also asked what they would change about the Quaker Campus

in an open-ended question. Verbatim responses to this question are included in Appendix

D. Student answers ranged from comments about the layout of the paper ("a bit more

decorative, sassy, appealing," "headlines in color," "layout could be changed up to add

variety"), to content ("a little more depth, more articles, less stuff," "less sports and more

news, editorials," "more articles featuring professors," "sex advice article"), and accuracy

("actually edit stories," "don't misspell people's names and misquote facts," "correctly

quote and get some stories straight," "the constant grammatical errors are armoying"). It

should be noted that previous questions about accuracy and specific changes to the

Quaker Campus likely primed students to reiterate their earlier answers here in this open-

ended question.

Over- and Under-Representation of Groups in the Quaker Campus

Respondents were also asked their opinions about whether certain groups on

campus are over- or under-represented in the student newspaper. Only one-in-five

(22.3%) respondents think that the Quaker Campus gives too much coverage to specific

groups. Among students who think this, 37.1 percent think that sports teams get too

much coverage, followed by one-fourth who think that student government receives too

much attention (24.3%) (Chart 19).

33

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Chart 19: Perception of Group Over-Representation in the Quaker Campus (n=70)

100%-^^'""^

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

42.0%37.1%

24.3%

J2.9%

Sports Student Societies

Teams GovernmentRacial

Groups

When it comes to under-representation, one-third of Quaker Campus readers

think that a certain group(s) does not receive enough coverage (32.6%). Among readers

who believe there is under-representation, 22 percent think that societies do not get the

coverage they deserve, vs^hile 18 percent report the same for sports teams (Chart 20).

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Chart 20: Perception of Group Under-Representation in the Quaker Campus(n=100)

100%-ii

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

--T.yr

18.0%22.0%

2.0%

^7-0%

Sports Student Societies Racial

Teams Government Groups

Differences in opinions about over- and under-representation of different groups

emerge in terms of living location, class standing, gender, and race/ethnicity. The

number of respondents who believe the Quaker Campus over- and under-represents

certain groups is too small to calculate statistical significance, but major percentage

differences are reported here.

A greater percentage of students who live on campus (28.9%) think that student

government is over-represented in the newspaper than students who live off campus

(18.3%). More female students (41.3%)) think that sports teams are over-represented than

male students (33.3%)).

When it comes to opinions about ««Jer-representation, a greater percentage of

students who live on campus (24.6%)) think that societies are M«<ier-represented than

35

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students who live off campus (19.4%). A higher percentage of female respondents

(28.3%) think that societies are under-represented than male respondents (13.2%).

More on-campus students (19.7%) think that sports teams are under-represented

in the newspaper than ofF-campus students (1 1 .1%). Fewer juniors (5.6%) and seniors

(8.3%) think that the Quaker Campus under-represents sports teams than first-year

students (22.7%) and sophomores (27.3%). Thirty-two percent of male students report

that sports teams are ««Jer-represented compared to only 8.3 percent of female students

who report the same.

Student Knowledge and Use of the Quaker Campus Website

The Quaker Campus offers a website that is updated frequently for its readers

(www.quakercampus .com) . One-quarter of Whittier College students are aware that the

student newspaper has a website (24.8%) (Chart 21). Among respondents who are aware

of the website, 40.6 percent say they have visited it "a few times," while 2.9 percent say

they visit it "often." It is safe to say that students are not generally aware of the Quaker

Campus website, and it is accessed infrequently by this population.

36

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Chart 21: Awareness of the Quaker Campus Website

Aware of the

QC Website,

24.8%

Certain students are more likely to be aware of the Quaker Campus website than

others. One-third of seniors (32.3%) are aware of the website compared to 28.8 percent

ofjuniors, 22.6 percent of sophomores, and 17.1 percent of first-year students (p<.05).

Likewise, Latino students are more likely to know about the website than White students

(30.8% compared to 24.3%) (p<.10).

37

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Appendix A; Annotated Questionnaire

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38

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Thank you for taking the time to fill out our first-annual readership survey for the QuakerCampus, Whittier College's student newspaper. Completing this survey should take less

than ten minutes. The purpose of this survey is to improve all aspects of the QC. This

survey is confidential, so please be honest with your responses and let us know if there are

things not on the survey that you feel strongly about. Again, thank you.

-The QC staff

Section I: Your Opinions About The Quaker Campus

Q1 . How often do you read the Quaker Campus? (Please circle the answer that best fits.)M(1) Always

(2) Often

(3) Sometimes

(4) Never

-A vjwtHo«iNfc-««^..*^>v*t*«;-*. -*• "v.Ht.-—-v«i- 'tt- jfa-:.'jm*i. immrnmnm'

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Q3. How often do you read the following sections of the Quaker Campus? (Please put a check in the

box that best describes how often you read each section.)

Section of the QC

i' l:; ; :,ii,-

"•, f;,^

( -

Q5. The Quaker Campus runs special feature articles in each issue. How often do you read the

following special feature articles? (Please put a check in the box that best describes how often

you read each article.)

Miuuica \9t;i;iiuii;

onr

•!

Q6. Now we would like to know your level of satisfaction with each special features article. (Please

check the box that best describes your level of satisfaction with each special features article.)

Articles (section)

Q7. How interested are you in seeing the following topics in future issues of the Quaker Campus?

(Please put a check in the box that best describes your interest in each topic.)

Topic

'hUO:

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Q10. If you have been quoted in the Quaker Campus, have you been quoted accurately?

(Please circle the answer that best fits.)

(1) No, I've never been quoted in the Quaker Campus 62.5%

(2) Yes, I've been accurately quoted in the Quaker Campus 28.7%

(3) Yes, I've been inaccurately quoted in the Quaker Campus. (Please specify in the area

below.) 8.7%

Q11 . Now we would like to know how accurate you think the Quaker Campus is. (Please circle the

answer that best reflects the accuracy of the Quaker Campus.)

(1) Very inaccurate 3.3%

(2) Somewhat inaccurate 29.7%

(3) Neutral 25.3%

(4) Somewhat accurate 38.8%

(5) Very accurate 2.9%

Q12. Do you feel as though the Quaker Campus over-represents any groups on campus? (e.g.

societies, student government, sports teams, racial groups, etc.) If so, please specify which

groups you think are over-represented and how they are over-represented:

(1) Societies 4.3%

(2) Student Government 24.3%

(3) Sports Teams 37.1% ~ ^. ,^ ,. . >,

(4) Racial Groups 2.9%

(5) Other 31.4%

Q13. Do you feel as though the Quaker Campus under-represents any groups on campus? (e.g.

societies, student government, sports teams, racial groups, etc.) If so, please specify which

groups you think are under-represented and how they are under-represented:

(1) Societies 22.0%


(3) Sports Teams . 18.0%

(4) Racial Groups^

7.0%

(5) Other 51.0%

44

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Q14. What is your current overall satisfaction with the Quaker Campus? (Please circle the response

that best describes your satisfaction level.)

(1) Very dissatisfied 1.8% ^'.,.

(2) Somewhat dissatisfied 17.9%

(3) Neutral 27.5%

(4) Somewhat Satisfied 43.6%

(5) Very Satisfied 9.2%

Q15. What do you like the most about the Quaker Campus? (Feel free to list multiple things you like

about the QC.)

Q16. What do you like the least about the Quaker Campus? (Feel free to list multiple things you

dislike about the QC.)

Q17. If you were the editor of the Quaker Campus, what changes would you make to the QC, if any?(e.g., the layout of the paper, the types of articles run, the writing style, length of the paper, etc.)

45

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Section II: Background Information

Now we would like to know some information about your background so we can

classify your previous answers. This information will be kept strictly confidential.

isQ18. Where do you live? (please circle one)

(1) On campus 61.1%

(2) Off campus 38.9% j,.

Q19. What is your class standing? (please circle one)

(1) Freshman 28.0%

(2) Sophomore 29.0%

(3) Junior 20.5%

(4) Senior 22.5% '

'' '''

Q20. What is your gender? (please circle one)

(1) Male 38.6% • •

(2) Female 61.4%

Q21. What is your age:

(18) 13.1%

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Q23: Are you Spanish/Hispanic/Latino? (Circle (1) if not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino.)

(1) NO, not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino 73.7%

(2) Yes, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano ; 18.9%

(3) Yes, Puerto Rican 1.1%

(4) Yes, Cuban ' .4%

(5) Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (please specify) 6.0%

Q24. What is your race?

(1) Black, African American 3.0%

(2) White, Caucasian 53.9%

(3) Spanish, Hispanic, Latino 21.9%

(4) Asian, Pacific Islander 14.5%

(5) American Indian 1.1%

(6) Other (please specify) 5.6%_

025. What campus organizations are you involved in, if any? (e.g., sports teams, societies, student

government, clubs, etc.)

(1) Societies 20.7% _ . .

(2) Sports Teams 36.9%


(4) Clubs ' 29.8%

(5) Other 11.1%

."«!

^^ '̂tfW

026. Please use the space below to provide any other feedback you would like us to consider.

(1) Positive towards the OC 41.3%

(2) Negative towards the OC 21.7%

(3) Positive towards the survey 4.3%

(4) Negative towards the survey 6.5%

(5) Other ^ , 26.1% Vvi

' '

'

47

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Please tear off this sheet andturn in separately.

We may want to contact you in the future to get more information about your opinions

regarding the Quaker Campus. If you are willing to be contacted again, fill in the

information below and tear off this sheet and turn it in separately from your survey.

Any informiation you provided on this survey will remain confidential.

Name

Telephone Number [ )_

Campus Mailbox

E-mail Address QC

Thank You!

Please tear off this sheet andturn in separately.

48

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Appendix B: Fielding Instructions

Quaker Campus Readership Survey

Survey Instructions

These instructions must be read verbatim prior to passing out the QC survey to the participating class. Noexceptions! Be aware thatyou are taking up valuable class time, so move through this introduction in a

timely manner.

Hello, my name is and I am here today to administer a survey for the

Quaker Campus. I am working on this research project as part of a research methods course I am taking. I

hope that you will decide to take a few minutes to complete this confidential survey, but you are in noway

obligated to fill it out. If you do not want to complete a survey, this will not affect your grade or count against

you in any way . : :,

Whether or not you decide to complete the survey, you can rip off the back page and hand it in to me to put

your name in a drawing to win several great prizes: ,

;

"iPod ,.;; . .

— 2 months of free pizza from Brickhouse

— 2 X lib. bags of coffee from Starbucks

-2x$10gift certificates for Mimo's Cafei ,; .

,

— $25 gift certificate (or 2 free dinners) at Los Portales restaurant .. .,

-- $10 gift certificate for Dattilos

~ 4 Movie passes @ Whittier Village Cinemas

We will draw winners and contact them before spring break to collect their prize.,

' s.

Does anyone have any questions before I pass these out? ^ (Avoid answering any questions pertaining to the

survey that might bias what the students write down. Respond with "That 's actuallyfor you to decide when you

take the survey, " or something to that effect.)

Ifstudents askyou questions about the survey while they are completing it, avoid giving them information that

will bias what they write down. For example, ifthey ask "what do you mean by 'satisfaction '? " respond by

saying "that 's actuallyfor you to decide. Use your definition ofthat word."

49

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^«Appendix C; Cleaning., Coding, and Data Entry Instructions

Quaker Campus Project

Group 2CFirst Training n ^ : .

1) Clean the surveys

^> Use red ink only!

=> Put a visible X over any responses that did not follow the directions (e.g., multiple check marks for

question Q2 - we can't use this data because they aren't answering the same question as everyone else)

=> Use the codebook to apply codes to the following questions. (Write the number in red next to the

response and circle it.)

Q12aQ13aQ25aQ25bQ26a

=> Cross off responses that should not be there. For example, for Ql, only people who answered "never"

(4) should have written anything in the blank below. If a respondent circled "often" (2) but then wrote

something in the blank below, cross off their comments so they aren't entered during data entry.

=> If in doubt about how to "clean" a particular survey situation, be conservative and axe the data. (If it's

questionable, we don't want it to bias our overall numbers. It is better to not have it at all.)

2) Assign Data Entry People Numbers in the Codebook

=> Make sure that everyone writes down the same name for each number in the codebooks. For example,

Mr. Smith should be #1 on all the codebooks, Ms. June should be #2 on all the codebooks, etc. Make

sure to include everyone from your group.

3) Review the Master Copy of the survey and the Codebook

=> Familiarize yourself with the master survey and the codebook. (Talk about how to enter verbatim

responses, etc.)

4) SPSS Tutorial

=:> Run the SPSS tutorial to familiarize yourself with the program.

5) Practice Data Entry

=> Get a disk (sign the sheet)

=> Open the disk and click on the "Quaker Campus Project Datafile"

=> Familiarize yourself with the way the variables are set up

=i- Practice your data entry using actual surveys'^-

=> Return the disk to Lisa

6) Schedule Data Entry

=> Schedule a session or two to complete actual data entry

50

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Appendix D; Codebook

Quaker Campus Project -- Codebook

IDNUM: Identification Number (Enter identification number fi-om the upper right-hand comer.)

INTERNUM: Interviewer Number '

(1) Swati Balakxishnan

(2) Genaro De La Cerda

(3) Jessica Gardezy

(4) Ben Laitflang

(5) Natalie Medellin

(6) Juan Quintana

(7) Heather Rodgers

(8) Natalie Sargsian '

Ql . How often do you read the QC?(1) Always -

' - '- • •

(2) Often

(3) Sometimes -*•

(4) Never

Qla. If never, please specify. (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q2. Where do you most often get your copy of the QC? • '

(1) QC purple boxes

(2) Campus readership program kiosks

(3) Borrowed from a friend

(4) Left in a classroom or other public space

(5) Other

Q2a. Enter what they write verbatim. • i. -

1

Q3 a. How often do you read the news section of the QC?(1) Never read section

(2) Sometimes read section

(3) Often read section

(4) Always read section

Q3b. How often do you read the opinions section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q3c. How often do you read the calendar section of the QC? ' • .

(1) Never read section




51

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Q3d. How often do you read the campus life section ofthe QC?(1) Never read section




Q3e. How often do you read the arts and entertainment section of the QC?

(1) Never read sectionf „-. '.




Q3f How often do you read the sports section of the QC?

(1) Never read section , - .




Q4a. Describe your level of satisfaction for the news section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied

(2) Somewhat dissatisfied -• .. ' !

(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat satisfied

(5) Very satisfied

Q4b. Describe your level of satisfaction for the opinions section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied .

.

(2) Somewhat dissatisfied

(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

Q4c. Describe your level of satisfaction for the calendar section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

Q4d. Describe your level of satisfaction for the campus life section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied -.; .

r

Q4e. Describe your level of satisfaction for the arts and entertainment section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

52

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Q4f. Describe your level of satisfaction for the sports section of the QC(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

Q5a. How often do you read the "Crime Log" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5b. How often do you read the "COR minutes" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5c. How often do you read the "Comics" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5d. How often do you read the "Staff Editorial" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5e. How often do you read the "Cheers and Jeers" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5f How often do you read the "Cribs" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




Q5g. How often do you read the "On Edge" section of the QC?(1) Never read section




53

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Q5h. How often do you read the "Beer of the Week" section of the QC?





Q5i. How often do you read the "Sound Bytes" section of the QC?





Q5j. How often do you read the "Sports Shout" section of the QC?


(2) Sometimes read section ''

". . ••':


(4) Always read section .

Q5k. How often do you read the "Fanatic" section of the QC?(1) Never read section


(3) Often read section v >. . f ;>


Q6a. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Crime Log" section of the QC?(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat satisfied \ *:

(5) Very satisfied

Q6b. Describe you level of satisfaction for the "COR Minutes" section of the QC?(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat satisfied •',.i'.-o, ,-.• ...' > •= '

(5) Very satisfied

Q6c. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Comics" section of the QC?(1) Very dissatisfied ^


(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat satisfied „•

(5) Very satisfied

Q6d. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Staff Editorial" section of the QC?(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

54

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Q6e. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Cheers and Jeers" section of the QC?

(1) Very dissatisfied


(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied ' ' '

''>

.'

Q6f Describe your level of satisfaction of the "Cribs" section of the QC?



(3) Neutral ''"

' "'"\ "'''

'

'


(5) Very satisfied

Q6g. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "On Edge" section of the QC?



(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied'>'* •'"'' '-"'- "^' ^.

Q6h. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "'Beer of the Week" section of the QC?



(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat satisfied " •

"'" '• ''• '^

"

''

'

(5) Very satisfied

Q6i. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Sound Bytes" section of the QC?


(2) Somewhat dissatisfied ' ''''

^'

''*

'' • '

(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

Q6j. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Sports Shouf section of the QC?



(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied'

Q6k. Describe your level of satisfaction for the "Fanatic" section of the QC?



(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

55

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Q7a. How interested are you in seeing world news in future QC issues?

(1) Not at all interested

(2) Somewhat interested

(3) Very interested

Q7b. How interested are you in seeing national news in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested

Q7c. How interested are you in seeing California state news in future QC issues?

(1) Not at all interested , i-

(2) Somewhat interested ' , ' ,

(3) Very interested

Q7d. How interested are you in seeing city of Whittier news in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested

Q7e. How interested are you in seeing investigative reporting in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested -, i^. ...

..

Q7f How interested are you in seeing student classified ads in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested

Q7g. How interested are you in seeing Whittier business ads in future QC issues?


(2) Somewhat interested o.-..: : j .

(3) Very interested

Q7h. How interested are you in seeing local calendar activities in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested

Q7i. How interested are you in seeing career-oriented articles in future QC issues?



(3) Very interested

Q7j. How interested are you in seeing graduate school articles in fiiture QC issues?



(3) Very interested • ' *:,'. ,-.,. • -f ; .

: .-^•jtv

56

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Q8. Are you aware that the QC has a website?

(1) Yes

(2) No

Q9. How often do you visit the QC website?

(1) Never

(2) A few times

(3) Often

QIO. If the QC has quoted you, was it accurate?

(1) No, I've never been quoted in the QC(2) Yes, I've been accurately quoted in the QC(3) Yes, I've been inaccurately quoted in the QC

QlOa: Enter what they write verbatim.

Ql 1. How accurate do you think the QC is?

(1) Very inaccurate

(2) Somewhat inaccurate

(3) Neutral

(4) Somewhat accurate

(5) Very accurate

Q12. Do you feel that the QC over-represents any groups on campus? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q12a. Groups the QC over-represents:

(1) societies

(2) student government

(3) sports teams • •

(4) racial groups

(5) other - ' • - '

Q13. Do you feel that the QC under-represents any group on campus? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q13a. Groups the QC under-represents:

(1) societies

(2) student government

(3) sports teams'

(4) racial groups

(5) other ^

Q14. What is your current overall satisfaction with the QC?



(3) Neutral


(5) Very satisfied

Q15. What do you like most about the QC? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q16. What do you like least about the QC? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

57

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Q17. If you were the editor, what changes would you make to the QC? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q 1 8 . Where do you live?

(1) On campus

(2) Off campus

Q19. What is your class standing?

(1) Freshman

(2) Sophomore '-^'

'

(3) Junior

(4) Senior ^- . '

.

Q20. What is your gender? ''

(1) Male

(2) Female

Q21. What is age? (Enter their actual age.)

Q22. What is your major?

(1) Art and Art History '' '

(2) Biology

(3) Business Administration

(4) Chemistry

(5) Earth and Environmental Science

(6) Economics '

(7) Education and Child Development

(8) English

(9) History

(10) Kinesiology and Leisure Science

(11) Mathematics '

( 1 2) Modem Languages and Literatures

(13) Music

(14) Philosophy

(15) Political Science

(16) Physics and Astronomy

(17) Psychology

(18) Religious Studies

(19) Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work

(20) Theater Arts and Communication

(21) Other

Q23. Are you Spanish/Hispanic/Latino?

(1) No, not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

(2) Yes, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano

(3) Yes, Puerto Rican

(4) Yes, Cuban

(5) Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

Q23a. Other Ethnicity Specified (Enter what they write verbatim.)

58

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Q24. What is your race?

(1) Black, African American

(2) White, Caucasian uvs

(3) Spanish, Hispanic, Latino

(4) Asian, Pacific Islander, ;,

(5) American Indian

(6) Other

A24a. Other Race Specified (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q25. What campus organization are you involved in? (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q25a. Categories of campus organization:

(1) sports team

(2) society

(3) student government -

(4) clubs

(5) other

Q25b. Number of campus organizations involved with? (Count the number of organizations listed and enter this

number.) , , '

Q26. Feedback (Enter what they write verbatim.)

Q26a. Feedback Categories:

(1) positive toward the QC(2) negative toward the QC(3) positive toward the survey

(4) negative toward the survey

(5) other

59

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Appendix E: Verbatim Responses

Q15. What do you like most about the Quaker Campus?

2 for 1 movie tickets & sports info.

2 for 1 movies

2 for 1 on Whittier cinemas tickets

about our school news, cool to know what's on

ads, etc. keeps me informed

All the interesting things about what is going on around school and campus

art and entertainment stories are very interesting

Articles about events that go on.

Arts & Entertainment

Arts and Entertainment section is great

availability ., ..•,

-.

availability, frequency ofnew issues

beer of the week -

beer of the week and the cover stories

Beer of the week, crime log!

beer of the week, senior profiles, and crime log

beer of the week, sports articles, polls '. *

bring news about the school to the attention of students

buy one get one free movie tickets

Calendar

Calendar articles- the facts that it comes out every week

calendar events, crime log

Campus life

campus life, events

campus safety log

cheers & jeers

Cheers & jeers

Cheers & Jeers

Cheers & Jeers crime log (campus safety) movie discounts

cheers & jeers, Cribs, news

cheers & jeers, crime log

Cheers & Jeers, editorials, world news, sports

Cheers + Jeers

Cheers and Jeers

Cheers and jeers rock my socks

Cheers and jeers, A & ECheers and Jeers, Campus news

Cheers and jeers, Christina's opinions column letters, campus in i

cheers and jeers, COR minutes, pictures

Cheers and jeers, crime log

Cheers and Jeers, most sports articles, movie pass

cheers and jeers, opinions i ' <

cheers and jeers, sports

Cheers and Jeers, sports ^ ...

' ' ^;., - . . ;!.•••. -,

cheers and jeers, sports, cribs

60

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-1.

^ • comes out often ••

Comics

Comics , Calendar

Coupon for movie'

'''•''

coupons to cinema, opinion section ;

coverage of events on campus '

Cribs and whips '

cribs and whips, crime log, special features

cribs, cars

Cribs, sports, news, events.

Cribs. Rides. Comments. Comics

Crime log'

Crime Log

Crime Log and humorous (but not hurtfulO opinions

crime log to see if I'm in it. Editorial section (opinion) cribs, and senior profiles

crime log, cheers & jeers

crime log, cheers and jeers, beer of the week, editorials

crime log, controversial issues (Nixon lib. & the Mc)

crime log, cribs

crime log, quotes, news

Crime log, the occasional article, its obvious that the staff is enthusiastic, I like that

Crime log. A «& E rant

crime log. calendar section, and top stories

Crime logs

crime logs, cheers and jeers, Kevin's articles, sports section

crime reporting- Hike knowing what is happening -'-:''

;

Crime log, sports, news

Danielle Omer's columns, a and e crime log^

Editorial and reading what's going on on campus

Editors in chief, sports '•»•..->.

entertainment, crime log

event coverage

Events going on campus, ads

events on campus, movie coupons

everything

Free and allowed to write whatever without censors from college

front page news. I like to know a little about everything that's going on.

Front page, cheers & jeers, calendar, 2 for 1 movie ticket & cribs

getting to know what's going on what an event was like that I missed. I send some appropriate ones to

my family to share what's going on at my school.

gives students a chance to voice their opinions - -'' '

'

I always looked @ the pictures 1st since that's an interest of mine- changing up the format would give

the paper on a whole some spice

I can find out everything about the school "• -'"•

•' '"• •" • '^-•

I don't know

I don't know its just something to read and stuff inside is interesting

I don't know, the writing

I especially like the calendar section, and also the comics. It allows to get quickly updated on current

events.

61

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I like campus life and other stories that have to do about the campus.

I like everything almost equally the same.

I like how it interviews the sports and the teams I like the pictures of hard working athletes

I like it just to keep up with what interests me and read about friends, teachers and peers

I like opinions when its funny, like when it doesn't take stuff seriously

I like that it is not highly focused on national news. It is a SCHOOL newspaper and stay that way

I like that it talks about upcoming events be I live off campus and don't hear about some stuff

I like the comics, cheers and jeers, sports and calendar

I like the controversies on campus.

I like the crime log a lot.

I like the crime logs, sports, guest articles & the cover stories

I like the events calendar because it lets me know what is going on around campus

I like the new about sport and activities that took place

I like the somewhat quirky stories because let's face it, I get my real news from other sources.

I like to read about how the sports are doing and looking at the beer of the eek it makes it interesting

If you write a letter , it is almost always included

info about students, activity events, more times

Informative about school activities since I commute

interesting school articles

Interesting stories; entertainment

It's all about the students.

It's always available

It's fun to read, talented writers.

it's funny

It fills you in about what is happening here at Whittier

It is somewhat entertaining. I like reading about other students b/c I can get to know them a little more

before deciding if I would like to interact with them.

it written by students

its free

its published regularly and gives me something to do before class

its usually entertaining

Jeers & Cheers, Crime Log

Jeers & cheers, recent news on campus

Jeers and...and seeing sports

Jokes, sometimes there is an interesting article

Just having articles on people or some event is nice to look at

just seeing what is going on, sports

keeps me connected to what's going on

Knowing about what is going on off campus & on- 1 live off campus so this informs me of events

Knowing what is happening on campus because a lot of it is well covered

Kribs, and the fact that I can read about some things that have happened lately.

lack of material

Listing of on campus events the crime log

Making fun of most of the letters but mostly just making fun of the writers

movie coupons

movie listings and gossip

news •

News about arts and entertainment

news about the college, sports

62

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none in particular i..i * ;- .. <* v..

not much

on campus news, on campus accessibility -•".\ •

• .:> , _:

'

on edge, sports news >^-^ .^

openness/truth, etc.

Opinion column, beer of the week, campus life

opinions - Christine Gutierrez, Kevin Perez, Danielle

opinions

opinions section and comics

opinions, cheers and jeers calendar

opinions, crime log •

pictures

pictures from events'

'

pres, sports page

Reading about how campus events went and seeing those pix! about sports

reflections on students .' .-

Regularity, hard work

provides reading material while I eat • ..•

Seeing my own articles, letters, etc. in it

senior profiles, sports pgs

sometimes entertaining

sport, crime stuff

sports

sports / calendar'^

sports and dorm life sections .»v-

sports and many topics that they discuss about. Keeps you updated in QC life.

sports articles

sports crime log events

Sports pages '•'

'

sports section

sports section & calendar, cribs is entertaining

sports section + campus life, community events

Sports section b/c I am very into athletics. Also entertainment sections its nice to know what things are

happening in or around campus. It helps to get people out to support clubs and attend events

sports section, special features (cars, sports fanatics, etc.)

Sports Sections, Cheers and Jeers

Sports, Article on Cowboy Dawson

sports, blurbs

sports, cheers & jeers

sports, cheers and jeers, crime log

Sports, comics, movie times, cribs

Sports, news

sports, sports, beer of the week, cribs and, sports esp. soccer (women's)

Student-run. Focuses on stuff happening on-campus

Student life. Basically everything except sports (I am just not interested)

stuff

Stuff about students on campus (Achievements, etc.)

The accurate movie listings each week

63

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,! ,

• the calendar of events; I am a commuter student and it is nice to be kept up to date w/ all of the school

events

the calendar page and the movie times for the uptown theater

The cheers and jeers section is often very funny as are some of the opinions articles.

The comic

The comic section (By Kevin)

The creativity of the articles.

The Crime log

The Crime Log and Editorials

The crime log. The comics

the crime logs

The Humor and Reviews"

'

The humorous crime log, the comics, the beer of the week

the letters to the editor are always somewhat amusing

the opinion an feature stories • '..•'

the opinions and editorials are most interesting and usually are well thought out and intelligent

The sarcasm and that its written by my peers

The special feature columns and some news articles are interesting to read. I enjoy editorials about

events on campus/reactions to articles

the sports

the sports info

The sports news

the sports section

The sports sections and the weekly overview

The staff commentaries, "cheers & Jeers," and movie listings

The structure and quality of writing

The various amount of information that is presented. It isn't just about news or about one thing going on

on campus. It includes different aspects of student life

The Whittier Thing comic strip, the news, editorials, and the movie listings. I am interested in and

should pay more attention to the calendar, but it often escapes me (I forget),

the wide variety of sections

Theater coupon and movie times, the opinion section

Village cinema Hstings is an awesome thing that the qc has ^m^ * ; \ ' , ; .• :, '....,'

weekly published material

when it comes out and I can find a paper!

64

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Q16. What do you like least about the Quaker Campus?

A and E sections .• > .

A+Eisboring •, . ' i

aesthetics

all the boring stuff ' : '' '

articles

Articles appear biased, almost always -

~• • -

articles that suck -'.. ^

arts and entertainment

Arts entertainment

bad headlines for sports - you shouldn't be so negative and should encourage support for our athletic

teams- not bash them on losses

badquality of news and opinions sometimes . - ;

Bad quotes. BIAS in and on the articles subject. Bad spelling, using the same word 8 times in a

paragraph, the sometimes very sexist comments from cheers and jeers.

Beer of the Weekbeer of the week, cribs

Beer of the week, cribs, the negativity and bitching that is portrayed

Beer! COR Minutes =. • '. .;v

Being misquoted. Peoples names misspelled with the wrong face.

biased opinions, not much substance

Biased viewpoints on certain subjects i.e. politics

boring articles, the sports section • ^ .:'. '.^'

boring info ;^:« '><•;

•

'(•, . .. : ...

boring on campus new articles - -; urv c . • >.

calendar

campus news is very limited, it is as focused on editorials as news itself

Constant Negativity

COR minutes ! ,

'

<

COR minutes, opinion

COR notes

cribs- 1 really don't find descriptions of peoples rooms important or interesting. If continued, maybemonthly not weekly

cribs- no variety of people

cribs

Cribs

Don't really dislike anything because I don't always read everything.

Drama with professors should NOT be reported if the fiill story isn't presented. As far as I know, the OChas failed to do that recently and I'm tired of it. Some things should be left private.

editing

editorial page

Editorials where people like try to be creative but it just ends up a waste of ink

Editorials. ..except Kevin's

emphasis- lack of diversity on topics

everything else

Gossip oriented articles - " M*".-

Guest columns

65

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has become too lax to much "fiin" the editor has a responsibility to make the newspaper believable -

bring back some respect for the QC!

I'm not a very big fan of any of the opinion sections or investigative reporting sections. The opinions

never really seem to be in touch with what most of Whittier College believes. (The columns are often

preachy.)

I can not think of anything at the moment

I don't know

I don't like articles people write about themselves

I don't articles about arrogant people, wTiting stories in the "2nd person" about themselves

I don't know

I don't like the cheers and jeers, its stupid and the people are moronic fools.

I especially disliked the article on the football team's "illegal" activities. A newspaper is supposed to

represent all views, what a one sided opinionated piece of shit article was that... get your story right!

I hardly read the arts part. Some of the staff misquotes the athletes/students.

I think its very opinionated and does not stay objective

Important events are not covered. Students views aren't included.

Inaccuracies/biases in reporting

inaccurate information, spelling errors

inaccurate reporting negative focuses in articles-particularly athletics

Inaccurate Sports representation because the writers don't know squat about sports.

inaccurate response

inaccurate articles wasted pages

Inaccurate info

insults, many opinion editors are very disrespectftil to other students, faculty and staff

international/national news is not that great, front page is usually uninteresting

is sometimes of no relevance (or its sometimes not as important as other happenings)

it's all over the place -makes it hard to read

Its 'wanna be a real paper' attitude when it really sucks

it covers events on campus and campus life

It doesn't have any news about what's going on nationally or w/ career searching or Jobs/appointments,

etc.

It is boring, it tries to be a serious paper, the writing quality is poor they do not advertise new events as

much as they could

It should try to make the news section more interesting & more applicable to our community because I

tend to overlook it

Its accuracy

its all fluff, not written professionally

Kevin Perez's columns, lack of good art section-no music reviews or movie reviews no culture

lack of accuracy

Lack of articles about on-campus organizations

lay-outs, horrible headlines, opinion articles, not much creativity

major and obvious typos no color some stories bleed together

Many articles are useless and not well-written

minutes

misspelled names, quotes

Misquotes, wrong facts, lack of correct calendar

Misquoting inaccurate stories, that don't tell both side of the story

mo major dislikes

movie review and sports section ,.,.,. , ,,.?

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multiple pages on sports, letter tot he editor that never get printed

needs things like how we should improve the school.

negative headlines for articles

negative reviews

neutral

news ,:

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none'

none in particular

Not as much outside news on what is going on in the world.

not enough about college life - • - •> •

not enough sports, get people out there

not enough world news, needs to promote more student involvement

Not Many!

Not much I don't like ^

not sure'

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nothing

nothing in particular .,

Nothing is bad

nothing really - ^, =-

Nothing they have the power to control.•

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often articles lean one way; so not a fair representation

only printed once a week

Opinion Articles from the staff it seems that there are only opinions from staff

opinion articles or negative articles about the choir!

Opinion based articles about president A Roth •

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opinion pieces'

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opinions

Opinions . ;,

Opinions sections,

Opinions, I was over the opinions after the ridiculous Bush-bashing '

outside news ..

over critical of COR, articles are often biased to the point of misinformation

Over representation of societies

people can write nothing-but that is also the part I love, the freedom of it. Sometimes I just cant believe

how bad some articles/editorials are

people say that they have been misquoted

political stuff = boring!

SAME OLD SAME OLD STUFF Especially sports. It's the same kind of articles just different scores

and pictures SPICE IT UP GET CREATIVE Athlete of the week...sports team of the week

seems to always talk about the same people/topics, sports and societies

some articles are just too long, they get boring!

some inaccuracy, ex. # of society pledge

Some ofthe articles are just dumb and are poorly written. '' ' ..

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sometimes difficult to get a hold of

Sometimes their is nothing to speak of as they try + fixed anything

sometimes they get inaccurate information

sports

Sports

sports articles are boring and rarely have personal stories about the athletes

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sports section and COR articles , v. .

Stories that are weak overall in news, not interesting to read about

student classified ads

Stupid articles like 2 pages on a kids car ^

stupid opinion articles, that are completely irrelevant to Whittier college life

stupid things like an interview with someone about their car 2 weeks ago

The QC has too many errors and the articles don't follow or show any semblance of real intelligence

that there are tons of editing mistakes- lots of spelling and grammar, people being misquoted and

misnamed

The articles about a specific person that just has them talking about how great they are

The articles by people who don't know as much as they should about the event

The Comics

the crib section

The fact that I hard ever have access to a copy.

The fact that ITS and administration are blamed for student based problems

the grammar and spelling errors

the lack of point/counterpoint articles... there is only the point + that is very biased,

the miss quotes that they state though they were not said

The negative reporting about sports, before you just vsrite the outcome why don't you see & come to the

games(tennis) & see the positive things/ like how close the matches are or our great teamwork

The news (outside school) ^, .

v

the opinion section

the opinions

the stuff at the front

the stuff that takes up space that no one really reads- like COR minutes

The time they put a rape article in the middle of the paper, it should have been on the front page

the very apparent bias, even on "neutral" essays

The writers- try too hard to be funny or controversial and not hard enough for journalism

The writers (___

the writing is poor, the design s all over the place, and the editing is sloppy

time log for COR, liberal editorials i.e. cheers and jeers it seems like all they do is complain

Titles to sports articles are very negative and the stats are often inaccurate, many sentences are changed

from what the author vwote to what appears in the paper -> reflecting horribly on the author

too biased

too much unnecessary info, incorrect info(name, year, etc.)

Try to do news but it's wrong

unprofessionalism, typos constantly, errors everywhere

Usually when I read the articles, I notice a lot of grammatical errors... really simple ones, like miss-

spelling words.

When people just speak their opinions about a certain subject sometimes it's biased information or

biased opinions,

world news

You will have great things one week and then the next the paper will suck. This weeks' issue washorrible

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Ql 7. Ifyou were the editor, what changes wouldyou make to the Quaker Campus?

a bit more decorative, sassy, appealing

a little more depth, more articles, less stuff ;.•

accuracy of stories

actually edit stories->as you can tell I'm not that great a speller, but I can tell a bad sentence when I see

it (pun intended) PS I don't agree with section II

add coupons or random free things in random newspapers. My high school used to give out a coupon

for a free meal to in-n-out in random papers :•

add in stats of interesting things on campus

all 'U>^r-.:-V.,'

Allow people to share their opinions more

allow the writers to pick the headlines - it cant be that difficult

Although it is expensive, some color would be nice for the cover page

a variety of staff, too much the same every week

Be more open to suggestions of the KPOET DJs

be more organized

Be proud of your work so don't misspell people's names and misquote facts i

better writers

bring in national and international news, correctly quote and get some stories straight

Bum it down! Start over allowing the student body to write more freely

change the liberal radical views

Cover more actual news affecting college kids

cut cribs '' '• -^ ~

Different articles, try to take paper less seriously, better to be amusing / interesting then boring, evaluate

writing abilities of staff

Different font

Don't publish all things that are handed in

edit! need better, more interesting articles (better writing)^

Fire all writers, except sports, and start from ground up.

Fix titles

Form of the newspaper is good-content needs reconsideration

Get better writers who check there facts

get rid of crappy articles

Get rid of the comics or get new ones '

Have more articles about world events

have more national, world, California state, and city Whittier news.

headlines in color, dear Abby column

I'd get more ad revenue so the qc doesn't need to rely on school fiinding so much

I'd make it more available be I usually don't notice them unless someone else finished reading and left it

behind

I'd report everything set to the qc, including negative comments about the newspaper, ex Patrick's 8 pgletter

I cant say what I would change because I really don't care. I read it

I know this sounds stupid but the constant grammatical errors are annoying. We are all in college the

least we should do is be able to spell.

I think adding more info on jobs, world news, local on campus , info or articles on grad school, meds,

etc.

I think it's all good

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I would acknowledge that it is a college paper, and a bad one at that, and [unreadable] the paper more to

what kids want to read. Allow for more risque/interesting without compromising journalistic integrity.

I would add more articles and make the long ones shorter

I would change up some of the types of articles from alumni who are in careers would be good.

I would fire the current editors because they don't do their jobs well.

I would fix the things listed in Q16I would have to think about this some more - perhaps you could have a suggestion box somewhere to get

ideas.

I would limit the number of articles directed at COR and proofread for bias that could misrepresent a

topic

I would read everyone's article, make sure no one is misquoted.

I would reduce the amount of ad space shown

I wouldn't know

include: National news and California news

job listings would be helpfiil~

Just add more diversity to the articles.

just for the people themselves to add more enthusiasm to their writing

just to make sure what the people are writing that they know somewhat about it.

keep it the same

lay out could be changed up to add variety- 1 do however like the rotating color scheme- length should

depend on what events are going on a particular week

layout

layout (looks like LMU's)

layout good good sense of news and some opinions. Get rid of Cribs- 1 don't care how many times yougo to Spencer's gifts to black light posters. And that thing about cars also really bad a disgusting display

of class elitism. More Arts Reporting.

layout of pictures & length of paper

layout of the paper

Length of paper too long

less biased writing, more well rounded w/ focus on all sides of story.

Less criticism of school events

less emphasis on the Whittier college students social lives more actual news and usefiil info

less opinion stuff people bitch and wine enough in the halls CI I don't want to read about it.

less sports more news and editorials

Longer crime logs, more articles from students on campus, not involved w/ the paper; response articles

Make the sports reporters actually go to the game. I heard a reporter ask a lacrosse player what the final

score was because she only stayed for the first half.

Mix things around, make it more exciting, something new .)

More articles featuring professors

more articles on politics, both worldwide and in Whittier

More Arts & Entertainment and topics of both Whittier music & contemporary music.

more cheers & jeers

More clever articles

More color pictures

more comics

more construction

more diversity, creativity, substance, less bias - r . '.>

more educational more divers ideas

more HIP.;, .vjnf -n

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more interesting + eye catching articles

More international news

More meaningful articles about the things that happen on campus. COPY EDIT! There are so manygrammatical errors and stylistic problems. I focus more on that than on the content

more news about important worldly affairs

more news stories about events outside Whittier college and hw they effect us

more on news (world, state)

more organized

more outside news, more comics, little things. ; *

more pictures

More society news; pictures

more sport articles

more sports articles

more sports, bash athletic director for being an ass.

more sports in depth analysis, add player bios

more student life

More students off campus involved so people on campus can recognize them

more time spend research topics.

more world news incorporated in format • ;-

more world news sections

more pics color •. ' :> .

no changes

no comment :

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none

None '•• -^ . ::••: -^

NONE, its good as is.

None, more accuracy though

none. I think they do a good job

not so long, more accurate articles, less typos and grammar errors

not such serious formal stories other colleges news papers are way fimny

nothing-I think it offers a variety of reading interests

nothing

Nothing

Perhaps

probably change layout use more color, start selling ads in the paper

probably nothing

put sports on inside of paper, make crime log every week

quality of articles

Quality of the articles.

Quality of writing. If your writers cant write don't' waste money & my time with drivel.

Re do opinions section. The one article about the handicap areas of the campus was awful

redo layout of sports section

seeQ16

Sex advice article

slash the constant COR articles the length should be increased

Smaller sports section

smaller sports section, more about what's going to happen, less about what already happened.

Staff views, one sided views

stop talking about beer and more about sports and women

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Take out beer of the week and COR minutes

talk more about the community

the design layout needs consistency - small continuations of stories in random available space on the

next page is unattractive, also spot color on the front page should remain consistent - PURPLE, not

random colors.

The design; needs/could be more appealing to read

The lax write ups are w/ people & their positions & about how the game went

The layout of the paper

the length of the paper could be longer and much more accurate

the spelling

the types of articles are. there needs to be more news

the types of articles being run. some articles should not be posted

The types of articles run. I wouldn't mind if the paper was longer. I would like to see a society section

because societies have some many events going on it be nice to know when everything is also during

rush & open house it'd be nice to have advert

The types of articles run (should be more fun) The length of articles (should be as concise as possible)

The types of articles run. We need real stories

the writing style

The Writing Style...make it more professional and less "frat boy" style

The writing style would be more concise and positive

There are some articles that are very poorly written w/ basic grammatical & spelling errors

think about audience

Though the paper is fun, it could use a little weight -> that can be gained by including national/state/city

news and events that are going on throughout LA (not just in Whittier)

Titles of Sports articles, stop favoring some teams and to get journalists who know about sports to write

the Articles

to get info on sports players

too many to list

Try to have people write about sports that actually have knowledge ofthem

try to include more controversial articles.

types of articles

Types of articles

types of articles run

Well, first I'd try to not take myself too seriously. It's a small paper with a small budget at a small

college. Taking that into account, I think Adam(can't remember his last name) had the right idea. He was

writing articles like "where to find a fa

What kind of sad question is this?

work on grammar & spelling

write in a more clear and concise manner, no beer of the week, no cribs

write less about sports

writing style & more positive titles/ headlines, more accurate stats for sports

writing style: upgrade, to weak

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The Quaker Campus: Whittier College Student Readership Survey

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