The ''Daily Nexus'' is a campus
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
(UCSB).
''Daily Nexus'' lineage can be traced to the
Santa Barbara State College student newspaper, ''The Eagle'', of the 1930s. After the college became part of the UC system in 1944, ''The Eagle'' evolved under different names — ''The Roadrunner'', ''El Gaucho'', ''The University Post'' and ''The Daily Gaucho''. The modern ''Daily Nexus'' emerged from the activism and civil protests of the 1960s-1970s. The newspaper's editors changed the publication's name in 1970 to the ''Daily Nexus'' to "keep with the changing nature of the university" after protesters burned down the
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
building in
Isla Vista
Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. As of 2020 census, the community had a population of 15,500. The majority of residents are college students at t ...
, a UCSB community neighboring the campus. The 1970-71 editorial board drew inspiration from a quote by
Robert Maynard Hutchins
Robert Maynard Hutchins (January 17, 1899 – May 14, 1977) was an American educational philosopher. He was president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago, and earlier dean of Yale Law School (1927–1929). His& ...
: "A free press is the nexus of any democracy".
Since then, the ''Daily Nexus'' has covered campus-related and county-wide news, sports and arts. Students run the editorial side of the paper, independent of faculty or administration input or guidance. The editor in chief hires editorial staff and has the final word on what goes to print. Editors train and supervise staff writers and reporters. UCSB students work on the advertising and business side, as well.
The ''Daily Nexus'' office is situated in the Storke Communications Plaza, beneath
Storke Tower and next to the offices of
KCSB-FM
KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus.
KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to lear ...
, the campus radio station. The Daily Nexus receives about two thirds of its funds from advertising revenue. The other one third is derived from a quarterly lock-in fee of $3.85 per student during the regular school year and $1.00 per student during the summer session. The lock-in fee is voted upon by students every two years.
Publication history
The first iteration of the newspaper, ''The Eagle'', was founded by Everett Gamage for the 1921–22 Santa Barbara State Teachers' College school year.
It had a rocky start, highlighted by months of suspended publications, and faced a lack of funding and cooperation from the student body.
The first year saw the paper use a
mimeograph
A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the proc ...
duplication process, which was changed in the second year for a printing process.
In 1986, while the paper was under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief William Diepenbrock, News Editor Steve Elzer broke the story that UCSB Chancellor
Robert Huttenback
Robert Arthur Huttenback (March 8, 1928 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany – June 10, 2012, Camarillo, California) was the third Chancellor of UC Santa Barbara from 1977 to 1986. He was ousted from the post in July 1986 after allegations that he and ...
was under investigation for misappropriating university funds. What initially had begun as an article on the sudden departure of a UCSB vice chancellor eventually ended in an exposé of Huttenback's financial activities. The ''Daily Nexus'' story drew other media coverage and intense university pressure for Huttenback to resign, which he did months later on July 11, 1986. Huttenback was convicted in 1988 for embezzling more than $170,000, primarily used for improvements to his home he claimed were for entertaining donors. A review of the incident by the UC President was declared moot and never officially released. The story was followed by newspapers throughout California, including the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''.
In 1996, while the paper was under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Garner, an investigation by campus editor Tim Molloy into the UC Regents' controversial vote to end
Affirmative Action evolved into a lawsuit against California Governor
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
and the
UC Regents. Represented by the ACLU, the ''Daily Nexus'' and Molloy alleged that the governor had initiated secret discussions among the Board to secure the outcome of the vote, in violation of the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act The Bagley-Keene Act of 1967, officially known as the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, implements a provision of the California Constitution which declares that "the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be ...
. The Nexus argued that its investigation was delayed because the governor had illegally denied requests for public information – but the suit finally was dismissed by the
California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
for failure to file within the statute of limitations. No court ever reviewed the merits. Newspapers across the country followed the story.
On April 5, 2001, Brendan Buhler (editor in chief 2002–2004) interviewed ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'' author
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
in what turned out to be Adams' final interview before he died. After being published in the ''Nexus'', selections from Buhler's interview were published in Douglas' final book, ''
The Salmon of Doubt
''The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time'' is a posthumous collection of previously published and unpublished material by Douglas Adams. It consists largely of essays, interviews, and newspaper/magazine columns about technolo ...
''. 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 quadruple murder trial of
David Attias
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, who, as a UCSB freshman on February 23, 2001, sped a car through the streets of Isla Vista, killing four people. In July 2002, a Santa Barbara jury found Attias guilty of second-degree murder but legally insane at the time of the incident. The Attias case was also covered by newspapers such as ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' and the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
''. It also has been featured in multiple installments of the ''
Dateline NBC
''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...
'' news show.
The ''Daily Nexus'' publishes daily via its website; in 2014, it reduced its print edition to once a week.
Awards
Throughout its history, the ''Daily Nexus'' consistently has earned awards and top rankings—dominating annual college press awards in California for stretches at a time. Most recently, 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".
''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.
Sports writer Matt Connolly was also awarded third place in the category of "Best Sports Story".
In 2011, ''Nexus ''managing editor Lexi Pandell received the California College Media Association's "Best Feature Story" award for a piece about five students who died from drug and alcohol related accidents during an 18-month span.
In 2012 and 2013,
the ''Daily Nexus'' placed 9th on The Princeton Review's list of "Best College Newspapers". It was the only UC newspaper on the list.
Notable alumni
Some notable alumni of the ''Nexus'' (Position at ''Nexus''):
*
Steve Czaban - Radio personality. (Sports)
*
Josh Elliott
Josh Elliott is an American television journalist who most recently worked for CBS News. He has previously worked as the news anchor for ABC's ''Good Morning America'', a sports anchor for NBC Sports and ''Today'', and was a co-anchor for the ...
- ESPN SportsCenter anchor and former ''Sports Illustrated'' writer. (sports editor)
*
Morgan J. Freeman - Director (ArtsWeek)
*
Kazu Kibuishi
Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi (born April 8, 1978) is a Japanese-born American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology ''Flight'' and for creating the webcomic ''Copper''. He is al ...
-
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
author and illustrator. (Art Director)
*
Jeff Nathanson
Jeffrey D. Nathanson (born October 12, 1965) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.
Early life and education
Nathanson was born on October 12, 1965, in Los Angeles County, California. He attended the University of California, San ...
- Screenwriter and film director
*
Jason Ross -
Emmy award-winning writer for ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
''. (News Editor/Editor in Chief)
*
Christopher Scheer Christopher Scheer (born September 8, 1968) is an American writer, and the co-author, with Robert Scheer and Lakshmi Chaudhry, of ''The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq'', published in 2003 in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia. Th ...
- Former editor at the ''San Francisco Examiner'', managing editor of the alternative news site Alternet.
*
Bob Sipchen - Former ''Los Angeles Times'' editor, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Adjunct Professor at Occidental College's Dept. of English, UCSB's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2006, author.
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Journalism
University of California, Santa Barbara
Student newspapers published in California