The Ontarion

Infobox Newspaper
name = The Ontarion
type = Weekly Student newspaper
format = Tabloid
foundation = March 29, 1951
owners = University of Guelph Students
headquarters = Guelph, Ontario
editor-in-chief = Aaron Jacklin
ISSN =
website = [http://www.uoguelph.ca/~ontarion/ The Ontarion Homepage]

"The Ontarion" is an independent English-language student newspaper published at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. As of 2004, it publishes each Thursday with over 10,000 papers distributed weekly on and off campus during the fall and winter semester and bi-weekly during the summer semester.

History

The newspaper's first edition was published on March 29, 1951. The paper served the students of the Ontario Agricultural College before the University of Guelph's amalgamation in 1964.

The newspaper was intended to serve students at all three founding colleges. One early editor reported that the paper's name came from the idea that the three schools might one day become the University of Ontario. [http://www.uoguelph.ca/info/history/ontarion.shtml 1]

Over the years the newspaper has changed reflecting the growth on campus and changes in society, as well as the individuality of each new editor and various staff.

The social club atmosphere of the 1950's lead to Ontarion editors in the 1960's to 'stir up controversy' with articles about communism and boarding houses that advertised "whites preferred." One issue in fall 1970 was confiscated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the printering plant because it contained a bulletin with the FLQ manifesto which was illegal under the War Measures Act.

In the 1980s to present day, editors have varied the focus from news and intellectual discussion to letters and opinion pieces in an effort to hear all voices on campus. One of the editors in the 1990s told students: "If you don't like what we're doing with the paper, you can volunteer to help change it...It's your paper." [http://www.uoguelph.ca/info/history/ontarion.shtml 2]

The newspaper celebrated 50 years of publishing in 2001 and is still one of the few completely autonomous student newspapers in Canada.

Masthead

*Editor in Chief: Julia Chapman
*News Editor: Ari Altstedter
*Features Editor: Jonathan Gates
*Arts & Cultures Editor: Duncan Day-Myron
*Sports Editor: Daniel Bitonti
*Photo & Graphics Editor: Jamie MacDonald
*Layout Director: Tory Miles
*Advertising Designer: Meredith Craig
*Accounts/Business: Lorrie Taylor
*Advertising Manager: Paul Kendall
*Circulation Director: Sal Moran

External links

* [http://www.uoguelph.ca/~ontarion/ The Ontarion Homepage]
* [http://www.theontarion.ca/ Online Content]
* [http://www.uoguelph.ca/info/history/ontarion.shtml History of the Ontarion]