Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News," visited Tufts yesterday to discuss political and election news coverage for the annual Edward R. Murrow Forum. Williams is the most-watched evening news anchor in the country and in 2007 was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.
The talk concerned his career, the field of journalism and the upcoming elections. His presentation was filled with self-deprecating jokes and honesty. He recounted his unusual career path, which included dropping out of college and interning with President Jimmy Carter's administration, and discussed the precision and discipline required to interview politicians and cover major national news stories such as Hurricane Katrina. Williams' speech was outstanding, and audience members undoubtedly came away with a better understanding of the field of journalism.
It's too bad that only a few Tufts students actually got in.
Students who arrived within 20 minutes of the start of the event were shuffled into the overflow room in Granoff M155 because Distler Auditorium had reached its capacity. During the question-and-answer session, the camera streaming into M155 broke down, and the feed was lost.
The forum was open to the public, and people from outside the Tufts community filled the majority of the auditorium before the students for whom the university organizes the forum could arrive. We support the community's right to see a man of Williams' stature speak for free. Access to renowned speakers like Williams is one of the benefits of living near a major university, and we wouldn't want to see the university deprive Tufts' neighbors of these opportunities.
Nevertheless, the university needs to do a better job of regulating attendance at these events. The public should be filling the seats Tufts students don't want, rather than taking seats that Tufts students want but can't get. Admitting audience members on a first-come, first-served basis is a lazy and unfair method, especially since it all but ensured that the many Jumbos with 10:30 a.m. classes wouldn't get in. It also didn't help that the forum occurred on a Jumbo Day, which meant that parents of admitted students could stroll in as well.
When the university draws an ace, students should be given first crack at the seats, since they're the ones paying tens of thousands of dollars to be on the Hill. Implementing a ticket system, at least so that students could reserve seats within a certain window before the rest become walk-ins, would eliminate this issue. The university could justifiably turn students away because they hadn't reserved seats and had walked in too late, instead of having to throw together an overflow room.
A great talk is of no use if the students for whom you put it together can't see it. Fortunately, there is a very easy solution to prevent a similar problem from occurring next time.
