The Purple Army

By Grace Chou Every morning as THIMUN participants step off the buses, press members dressed in purple t-shirts rush up to sell them the newest Munity-East newspaper. In fact, this 16-paged newspaper is a collaboration of hard work, passion, and creativity from nearly 40 press members. “It is incredibly satisfying to see five issues published in a week,” says Jessica Ooyang, a layout editor. A typical day for Munity-East reporters consists of conducting interviews, researching facts, and creating topics that aim to attract readers. Their jobs are far from easy. “I think starting my articles and meeting my deadlines are the most difficult aspects of my job as a reporter,” comments Pertz Liao. The cooperation of other MUN participants is also crucial to the progress of reporting. “It gets frustrating when committee chairs don’t take our jobs seriously and refuse to help us when we’re between a rock and a hard place,” says a reporter who wishes to remain anonymous. Artists and photographers do not have it any easier. “It’s a big challenge for artists this year because we don’t have drawing pads. When everything has to be done with the mouse, our jobs become incredibly difficult,” comments Anya Yu. Photographers, the faces behind the big cameras, deal with the challenge of capturing the real smiles and tears of the people at THIMUN. It is not hard to appreciate the persistence and determination in these members, as they push through these technical barriers to strive for perfection in their work. Layout editors are at the end of the chain. When articles, artwork, and photos are complete, the layout editors perform the magic of putting the puzzle pieces together to create the final pages that readers see. Yee-wen Huang, a layout editor, explains the difficulties she has experienced. “Since I am a layout editor, I have to wait for all my group members to finish their tasks before I can begin my job. So, it gets difficult when somebody fails to meet his or her deadline.” Reporter Renee Klioufis agrees. “In the press room, I’ve learned the importance of working together,” she says, “and if somebody doesn’t meet his or her deadline, the entire chain slows down and everything gets affected.” All Munity-East members have learned the crucial importance of living up to their deadlines. Perhaps it is reasonable to say that Munity-East is like a line of dominoes. If one domino falls, everything else collapses. Finally, Munity-East would be incomplete without advisor Brian Longbotham, teacher advisors Ms. Janice Rossing and Ms. Yvonne Craig, and the editors-in-chief and assistant editors. “The press team this year is really awesome,” says Mr. Longbotham. “The writing and researching abilities of this year’s press members are incredibly high. With their level of writing, interviewing, and researching, significantly less editing and rewriting is required. This definitely speaks to the English programs of the schools from which our members come.”