Sam Dutton
Opinion Editor

I’ll admit, I never much understood why newspapers are failing. As more and more close up shop, a few linger printing one or times a week, stories that are by then considered “old news.” Maybe I am a little biased because I work for a newspaper; I witness the blood, sweat, and tears that get poured into its production and I happen to enjoy the rustling and turning of its pages as I read its stories. But from the perspective of an educator, newspapers do so much more than provide the latest news; rather they provide little history lessons to those who take the time to read. I had an interesting experience this past week while working in the Snapper office. An older gentleman came in, in search of the latest copy of the Snapper. I gladly assisted him, excited to meet an avid reader. The man introduced himself as Dr. Joseph Glass, a retired geography professor at Millersville University. Dr. Glass was also a graduate of Millersville University class of 1953 and a former snapper writer. It was intriguing speaking to a former snapper writer who not more than 60 years ago found himself in my shoes as a correspondent to an editorial known as Kaleidoscope, which discussed an array of opinion based topics. Dr. Glass chuckled as he recounted how some of his stories were quite controversial and said that often they did not win him too many friends. An important lesson that Dr. Glass unknowingly or maybe even knowingly taught me was the important role newspapers play in providing us with history. As our conversation continued Dr. Glass talked about past events at our University that became snapper stories. He spoke of former Millersville University President Robert Christie. Christie was president only a short time from 1965-1968 and eventually resigned under pressure from the board of trustees (suggesting possible scandal, but that is unknown). Tragically in 1970 this former university president was killed in a plane crash off the coast of British Honduras in South America. Dr. Glass also recounted when the Kent state events occurred how the university packed up and sent everyone home. I was intrigued by these stories about Millersville University, my school, our school and the historical role its newspaper has played in recounting the past. I was intrigued by the history lesson I was getting from a former newspaper writer and that led me to delve even more into the past of Millersville University. I sat cross-legged on the floor, with old copies of newspapers surrounding me. The edition of Homecoming 1979 caught my attention. Our football team won 27-7 (I wish that would happen more often these days). The cover story was about two males that were jailed in due part to committing theft and criminal conspiracy in Burrows hall. In the story Millersville Police said that the two men knocked on the door of room 703 Burrows, the victim opened the door and found a gun being pointed at his head. The robbers then tied him up and covered his face before making off with $40 and a stereo system. You can only imagine my jaw dropping shock at reading this story. Another story told of how Millersville University students would have to tolerate another hard cold winter due to bad heating and limited hot water in the dorms. The Assistant director of college maintenance at the time responded to this lack of heat during the cold winter months in stating, “The College could not possibly afford to keep a complete replacement parts inventory on hand.” I thought how different Millersville University is now, if something is not functioning properly in the dorms you call in a repair and it’s fixed within 1-2 days. A final story that I came across was a more recent one a fire in Bard hall from an overloaded power strip that displaced first floor students. A student had to be rescued via fire truck ladder and another student jumped to safety from a window. As I read and read these stories I got glimmers of the past at Millersville University. It became more apparent to me how important newspapers are in providing historical insight. Each newspaper that we open is like a mini-history textbook for tomorrow’s generation and generations to come. We need to keep newspapers around to keep history alive.