Everyone keeps asking me the same question. What are you going to do with SCAN? Are you going to change the name? Are you getting a new logo? Are you going to replace student journalists with trained chimps? For the answers to all those questions and many more then carry on reading to find out a bit more about SCAN in the past, the present and with the aid of some crystal ball gazing, the future.

Disclaimer

First things first. As much as I would like to form a Michael Jackson-Bubbles style double act in the SCAN office, I am definitely not (even though in some ways it may be a good thing) putting chimps, gorillas, apes or any other member of the simian family in my employment. Sorry to disappoint- though I may refer you to a university down the road, which consists entirely of primates.

What is SCAN and how did it all begin?

SCAN began life in 1967 when its initials stood for the more prosaic ‘Student College and Administrative committee News’. Back then it was basically an A4 newsletter outlining university issues. Over the years it has developed into being one of Europe’s longest running student newspapers.

With the formation of LUSU, the position of Editor became a paid sabbatical role (very useful for those wanting to stay at uni and not be on the dole during a recession) and SCAN became the main vehicle for reporting on LUSU’s superhuman efforts to challenge the dastardly university on important issues to do with study, rent and fees to name a few. Over 400 issues later there have been some particular highlights. The 1992 occupation of uni house by students protesting over rent rises had the memorable headline ‘Lunatics take over the asylum’. Or who can forget the coverage of the George Fox 6? Students prosecuted by the university for trespassing on a meeting. My personal favourite was a 2005 issue which used an image of Simpsons character Monty Burns to depict the Pro-Vice Chancellor. The resemblance to be fair was astounding.

What has SCAN been doing recently?

Over the course of the last year, SCAN has had a new logo (which will remain to answer another question) as well as improvements made to the general layout. The focus of the paper has changed as well. News and comment have become the priority. This is reflected by the fact that SCAN is now an acronym for ‘Student Comment And News’ which is a little bit sexier than its meaning from the obviously not so swinging 60′s.

SCAN hasn’t been afraid to court controversy either, successfully offending the Management School, JCR officers and the Head of Commercial Services. Please be aware this list is no-where near being comprehensive. On SCAN’s days off from being sued it has also interviewed Eddie Izzard and successfully covered the European and Local elections. Love it or loathe it SCAN has actually become a ‘proper’ newspaper this year.

SCAN to the Future

Firstly, SCAN should cover student politics. Students should be aware of events occurring between the NUS and Government over tuition fees etc. That will continue. However, news should also look closer to home. Students at Lancaster have interesting and newsworthy stories to tell. Students relate to other students. And let’s be honest, I’d probably relate better to a stuffed badger than the people from NUS and I’m sure many of you feel the same.

It is important for SCAN to provide commentary on university issues, but also national and global ones too. Student opinion is vital to the success of a student newspaper. This will continue as well. So hopefully we will get more tirades such as T-shirt Tyrants or creative (and slightly mental) debates on the nature and value of student protest.

I’ve already said SCAN should look closer to home. The new Lifestyle (off-shoot of Features) and Culture (combination of Arts and Music) will help achieve this. Lifestyle will provide a wider and funnier range of student opinion on less earth-shattering issues, will look at student fashion (an oxymoron I know), food and drink, technology as well as more puzzles- sudokus guaranteed readers. Culture will still review and commentate on the biggest bands and movies, but will also promote local events a lot more that SCAN readers can access and afford with more ease.

Sports coverage is another area that can be improved. As well as reports, I hope to cover a much broader range of sport this year and in as entertaining a fashion as possible. More opinion and analysis on inter-college and BUCS leagues. And a massive improvement to the coverage of Roses is another priority. This year’s Roses coverage wasn’t great and received a lot of criticism and hopefully we can learn from mistakes and make sure that Lancaster’s sports team get the column inches they deserve. As long as they win of course.

Finally, the website is another target. As well as uploading all paper content, we hope to have some exclusive content held over for online readers. The challenge will be to keep the site fully uploaded and relevant and explore different methods of communication such as blogs, podcasts and videos.

I hope this gives you some idea of what you can expect from SCAN this year. The aim is to be hard-hitting, topical and informative but also creative, relevant and entertaining.

And if you don’t like what you’ve read, it’s not too late to get Donkey Kong and a horde of flying winged monkeys on board instead.