The Peak (newspaper)

"The Peak" is the independent student newspaper at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, a suburb of Vancouver.

History

Shortly after the university's opening in 1965, "The Peak" was founded on October 6, 1965 ["Newspapers dissolve, form new publication," "The Peak," (Vol. 1, No. 1), October 13, 1966, p. 1] ["One paper" (editorial), "The Peak," (Vol. 1, No. 1), October 13, 1966, p. 2] through the merger of the "Tartan", which had published six issues under the editorship of Lorne Mallin, and the "SF View", which had published only one issue, edited by Rick McGrath. [Mike Hingston, [http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2005-3/issue1/fe-peakhist.html "The tumultuous history of SFU's student press"] , "The Peak", (Vol. 121, No. 1), September 5, 2005] Because no name had yet been decided, the first printed issue was unnamed; [The front page banner read simply, "NAME your student newspaper". "The Peak," (Vol. 1, No. 1), October 13, 1966, p. 1] the October 20, 1965 issue was the first to carry the banner of "The Peak".

Notable "Peak" alumni include Canadian journalist and author Allen Garr, Vancouver Province copy editor Lorne Mallin and author and interviewer John Sawatsky, who was editor of the newspaper in the early 1970s. Some former Peakies keep in touch through the Peak Alumni Group.

"The Peak" has been online since 1994, when contributor and communications student Gordon Ross created a website for the newspaper, complete with archiving, as a class project. A fully autonomous student newspaper since 1995, "The Peak" is published by Peak Publications Society and is funded through student fees and advertising.

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"The Peak" is run by a group of 12 student editors, yet unlike most student papers in Canada, it has no editor-in-chief, a legacy of "anti-hiearchy" reforms brought about in the 1970's that were never reversed. Many decisions about the paper's editorial direction are thus made informally through the section editors as a group, or by each section editor individually. Occasionally defacto "leaders" of "The Peak" emerge, often those individuals who hold the spot of copy editor or production editor, two of the most important positions charged with overseeing the paper's overall production. Another legacy of the past is that "Peak" editors remain formally "elected" by the paper's voting "collective," which formally consists of all recent writers, columnists, and editors. In practice, however, Peak elections are usually not particularly competitive and are conducted internally.

Like many student newspapers in British Columbia, "The Peak" is formally run as a registered non-profit "society" under the Society Act of British Columbia, known as the Peak Publications Society. Technically all SFU students are members of the Peak Society, and non-voluntary membership dues are imposed on all students as part of the university's student activity fee, fees which are in turn used to fund the paper's operations. The Society is formally governed by a board of directors which contains representation from various interested campus communities.

Printing

"The Peak" publishes weekly and has a press run of 10,000 copies and is distributed throughout the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Thirteen issues are published each trimester for a total of 39 per year. Currently, it is one of a very few student newspapers that runs weekly issues during the summer.

The print edition is ISSN|1710-0674, while the online edition is ISSN|1710-0682. The Peak has been a full member of Canadian University Press since the 28th annual CUP conference in Calgary (1965-66) ["Peak made full member of CUP," "The Peak," (Vol. 2, No. 1), January 5, 1966, p. 2] , and three editors later moved on to the CUP National Office — Maureen McEvoy as President in CUP 42, Stephen Hui as National Bureau Chief in CUP 67 and Amanda McCuaig as President in CUP 70 (2007-08).

Notes

ee also

* Simon Fraser University
* Canadian University Press
* Student newspaper
* List of student newspapers in Canada

External links

* [http://www.the-peak.ca/ The Peak]
* [http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2005-3/issue1/fe-peakhist.html "The tumultuous history of SFU's student press,"] by Mike Hingston