"May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight to know where you're going, and the insight to know when you're going too far." -- an Irish toast

-- -- --

The Irish toast is one of my favorites and you can find it stapled below my calendar on my office wall. When I'm faced with competing demands, deadlines, disappointments and disagreements, it helps to connect with the toast and remind myself that life is all about the process of change.

The toast takes on an even greater meaning when I look throughout our newsroom and at my colleagues who have spent countless hours seeing this newspaper to the stands in one way or another. Together we have the hindsight, foresight and insight it takes to provide the most important and interesting information to the University community every day. Not everyone will have made sense of all three at the same time. And no one should expect them to. Instead, we move forward by learning from each other's experiences.

This week I welcomed yet another group of students waiting to take our tryout test to become reporters. As in the past two semesters, I told this group of hopefuls the most encouraging thing I could think of -- one of them would be editor in chief some day. Some may have been thrilled to hear that while others may have shuddered and considered walking out of the room. But risking a few test takers, I felt compelled to tell them of their opportunity.

Because of time, what I didn't tell those students is that no matter what the position, every newspaper editor, reporter and photographer needs to recognize those three "sights," not just for themselves, but for our readers.

-- -- --

"The hindsight to know where you've been...

Hindsight can be a bittersweet thing for anyone. It means success, failure, happiness and sadness all wrapped up in one. Sometimes, all in one day. At the Collegian, hindsight includes our first great interviews and photo assignments and the next day's results on page one. Over the Collegian's past 107 years, we have worked diligently to provide our readers with news vital to their understanding of their community. We have been at the University's Board of Trustees meetings, Undergraduate Student Government elections, State College Borough Council chambers and Beaver Stadium. Without that hindsight of where we have been and should continue to be, we will lose the trust of University readers. The same goes for any other newspaper or media organization in America.

On the other hand, we also can't forget that hindsight includes the interview that bombed and the film that was ruined in processing. Despite the sacrifices in our social lives, the missed class time and lack of sleep, not everything has, or will, turn out as we expected. But our strength comes from knowing that our predecessors made it through such difficult times without running in front of the Loop. Yes, we've made some mistakes and we haven't seen the end of them. That's what hindsight is all about -- it's behind you but it has given you a vision for the future.

-- -- --

The foresight to know where you're going. . .

Dan Rather's new book, "The Camera Only Blinks Twice," reminded me of a humorous scene in the movie Broadcast News to which every journalist can relate. Actress Joan Cusack portrays a television news producer dashing in heels and diving over hallway obstacles from the editing room to the studio within seconds. Adrenaline rushing and nervously laughing, you grip the seat waiting to see if the tape will make it to viewer without any dead air.

When the tape is popped in and it begins to play, you can relax. The news the broadcast team worked so hard to collect has made it to the viewers.

At the Collegian, we can relate to that race and the goal. In the process of advance planning, quick thinking and running, we are reminded with each deadline of where we are going -- the distance for our readers.

In the next year, our coverage should include everything from a new University president to the far-reaching issue of a Republican-led Congress. Foresight should always be about determining what will affect the University community the most this week, and how it should be covered and placed within our pages.

-- -- --

"The insight to know when you're going too far. . ."

Out of all the "sights" I believe this one to be the most important to aspiring journalists. In the race of getting the story and getting it first, journalists have at times forgotten their accountability. They have forgotten their ethics. They have forgotten that their sources are people. There is the infamous 1981 example of Janet Cooke's source fabrication for a Washington Post feature article and numerous conflicts of interests among reporters.

It would have been easy for the field's editors, reporters and photographers to cover those scars instead of acknowledging them and helping them heal with education and reform. More ethics codes and frequent discussions on those issues provided more insight for the field. From college newspapers such as ours, to the big-city dailies, credibility depends on it.

-- -- --

Soon the new group of our reporting, photo and graphics candidates will be a part of our newsroom. There will be even fewer tubes to type in stories and more people to dodge in the hallway. But their addition marks something more than a bigger staff to provide the news. In a few years their group will hold the compass of this newspaper. And some days, it's a pretty heavy compass to hold.