Daily Bruin editor in chief named by Communications Board

  Timothy Kudo, a third-year philosophy
student, will be the next Daily Bruin editor in chief

By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The ASUCLA Communications Board selected Timothy Kudo, a
third-year philosophy student, as the next Daily Bruin editor in
chief at its meeting last night.

Kudo, currently an assistant news editor, will take over for
third-year English student Christine Byrd, who will step down after
The Bruin’s final regular issue in June.

Kudo said his plans for The Bruin include a substantial
re-thinking of the way the paper tackles its mission of covering
UCLA.

“I plan to make The Bruin more in touch with the reader
through a vigorous overhaul of our coverage and by creating a close
connection with the community,” Kudo said.

Specifically, Kudo plans to move deadlines later so reporters
will be better able to cover breaking news. He also wants to begin
publishing editorials on a daily basis.

Kudo said his impression of the Daily Bruin of the 1960s
influenced him as he considered how the paper can be changed for
the better.

“The papers of the past were a lot more aggressive, both
in coverage and in (editorial) stances,” he said. “I
think that’s something that’s been lost at The Bruin
that we need to regain.”

Kudo won the approval of the Communications Board after
receiving the endorsement of The Bruin’s staff at its
endorsement hearing on April 9.

Third-year political science and international development
studies student Jonah Lalas was the other candidate for the
position. Lalas is currently The Bruin’s Viewpoint
editor.

Both applicants expressed their distaste for the hiring
procedure, in which the Communications Board has the final say over
who will be chosen editor.

“The Communications Board is an elite group of people who
don’t experience what it is like to work with the candidates
on a day-to-day basis to put together a newspaper,” Lalas
said, describing the attitude of the board at the interviews as
“hostile.”

“(The decision) should be up to the staff, and I’m
sure my colleague would agree with me.”

Kudo did agree, saying he felt there “really should have
been no question” who the board would choose for the
position, since The Bruin’s staff had already made its
opinion known.

“I challenge the students, faculty and staff of UCLA to
question whether the procedure of choosing the EIC lends to the
fairness and credibility of the newspaper when the (editor) is
picked by a board composed of student government appointees and
members of ASUCLA, both of which The Bruin reports on,” he
said.

Byrd said she shared the applicants’ concern, since they
were told the interviews would only last around 10 minutes, yet
turned into 45-minute “grillings.”

This is the second year in a row in which there have been two
applicants for the position of editor in chief. In each year from
1995 to 1999, there was only one candidate for the position.

“I think this shows that concern about the paper is really
on an upswing,” Kudo said. “I think this is a positive
thing.”

Kudo said he feels The Bruin is in a position where it can start
strong in fall, which is usually the weakest time of year for the
paper.

“I think this year has suffered because the staff had to
recover in large part from mistakes made by last year’s
staff, and it’s been a difficult process, but … we’re
moving ahead,” he said.

“I think next year we’ll be starting off further
ahead than we did this year, and that we can build on
that.”

In the end, what’s most important to Kudo is that The
Bruin be an important part of life in the UCLA community.

“Hopefully next year when people walk by the kiosks,
they’ll pick up the paper not just out of habit but because
they really think that it’s vital to them,” he
said.