Journalism is all about capturing moments.

At times, it's a tough job, maybe the most difficult of all. Moments don't last long, sometimes a millisecond at most. Miss them, and they often don't repeat themselves.

For the past five years, I've made it my mission to find those moments, distill them to words and record them in history for Penn State students and alumni. I've seen a lot of them and probably missed many more.

I had the good fortune to be the Collegian's managing editor of content this fall when the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series. As students filled the streets in celebration, a few snowflakes fell from the sky, a fitting tribute to what really marked the end of summer. That was a moment worth capturing.

There's been more, too.

Three years ago as a women's basketball reporter, I watched as Immaculata alumna Rene Portland, broken by endless questions about discrimination allegations, used the Lord's name in vain. That moment found its way to the pages of The Daily Collegian.

And there was that little story that happened this November with Barack Obama. That was pretty exciting to capture in newsprint, too.

Now, as I leave the Collegian, I find it exciting to move elsewhere and record the daily history of another city, another demographic, moment by moment. It's one of the greatest joys of this profession. As much as we move to a 24/7 news cycle, complete with CNN updates that include no real news and blog posts that rely on nothing but water cooler speculation, it's still satisfying to sit down and think about what all the moments connected really mean.

It's why journalism will never die.

Despite all the layoffs, furloughs and wage freezes, the world still needs professional journalists to report, analyze and present news. We ink-stained wretches just haven't adapted quickly enough to the changing world, and now we're paying for it. For people who are always trying to beat the competition, we've sorely lacked the foresight to race ahead in the digital world.

The solution will come, though -- because it has to for the good of society.

Overall, newspapers still do the best job of reporting news objectively and responsibly. We understand the importance of running news through a filter. We understand getting your news fix from just a liberal blog or a conservative magazine isn't good enough.

That's something I know we've understood at The Daily Collegian during my five years here. But as much as we've stuck to our fundamental ideals, we're moving forward, too. Just check out the videos that populated our Web site during Thon weekend for proof.

But my concern here, as it is with the rest of the journalism industry, is that newspapers are quickly losing their ability to report news thoroughly. With all the layoffs and budget cuts, this industry is slowly beginning to miss the moments worth covering. There are just not enough people to cover the news for readers, a sad reality that must be faced.

Getting more with less is a lie. The Collegian, like other newspapers, is getting smaller. To say we're giving you, our readers, more with less would be irresponsible and unfair.

With that in mind, I'm asking those that can make a difference, the Collegian Board of Directors, to trust the students in this office. We've begun working toward the solution, and while it hasn't been found in my time in this downtown basement, someone will eventually figure out something.

So in the meantime, pay the award-winning journalists here what they're worth.

Don't condescend to them, but rather respect them for the stellar work they do.

And finally, realize the mission of this paper is to serve the students of Penn State, and the students here know how to do that best. This newspaper belongs to the students and no one else.

A little support and trust is all the journalists here need to get the job done.

Give them that, and the people here will make sure the moments get covered, snowflakes, baseball and all.

Andrew Staub is a senior majoring in journalism, and until 6:15 a.m. today, was The Daily Collegian's managing editor of content. His e-mail address is aes258@psu.edu.