The Louisville Cardinal

The Louisville Cardinal Newspaper is the independent weekly student newspaper of the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.^[1] It is published every Tuesday during the academic year and once in late April for distribution throughout the summer. The Louisville Cardinal was founded in 1926 and has maintained financial and editorial independence since 1980. The Louisville Cardinal serves as an outlet and learning experience for aspiring journalists. Recent advisers include Robert Schulman, Vince Staten, Kim Speirs, Mickey Meece and Ralph Merkel (current). Its editor is Kyeland Jackson.

1986 to 2000ish

From 1986-1988 and from 1996-2000 (approximately), Hon. Brennan James Callan, Col. was the Distribution Manager. He was attending a Political Science class with Dr. Phil Laemmle in Fall 1986, and Laemmle made the announcement that as he was the advisor to the paper. He knew they had an available opening as the Distribution Manager. During the mid 1970s, Callan was only a youth, but his mom worked at the English Department (1975-2005), and he used to visit all of the buildings goofing off during the summers. Laemmle knew many of the family members and he felt comfortable recommending Callan for the job. The Business Manager loved that Callan had been to the buildings for over 11-years before being hired. As Callan had at least 10-family members working on campus, he regularly visited those places.

During the mid 1980s and early 2000s, the weekly distribution was 15,000, papers, but only about 6,000 were sincerely needed. The distribution included, but was not limited to: 1. Belknap Campus, 2. Shelby Campus, 3. Health Science Center (HSC), 4. Downtown businesses such as the Brown Hotel, 5. Several of the gay bars, 6. Businesses adjacent to the Belknap Campus such as restaurants, laundry mats, hotels, motels, churches, video game arcades, video rental stores, and book stores.

While downtown, Callan delivered papers to the Louisville Galleria, right after visiting the Brown Hotel as they are both on 4th Street. Later, the Galleria first floor doors were removed and traffic in the rebranded "4th Street Live" area attempted to revitalize this corridor. The former sidewalks were curtailed and a renewed road was installed.

At the Health Science Center (HSC), newspapers were left at the 1. Dental School, 2. Medical School, 3. Nursing School, 4. nearby campus was the American Red Cross. They welcomed getting copies of the paper and we needed more "customers" of our free newspapers. In the late 1990s, a new bookstore opened at the Health Science Center and they let us put a rack in their facilities too.

Many of the new places Callan added were his favorite restaurants. This way, whatever the time of day, he could be able to drop off papers as part of his job, but also get a fast meal. He also was a member of the [Kentucky Air National Guard] from 1984-1987, so he would distribute papers onto the military base at Standiford Field (later renamed "Louisville International Airport."

Away from campus, the [Louisville Water Tower] got copies as Callan drove to the east end of town. Then over to Shelbyville Road, both the St. Matthews Mall and Oxmoor Shopping Center got copies. Then at Shelby Campus, the couple of buildings and student housing dorms. Getting onto the Watterson Expressway, Callan continued until reaching the Bardstown Road corridor. The Bashford Manor Shopping Center got copies of the paper as well as other businesses along that street. The "extra copies," old papers from the previous week and (new) undistributed newspapers all were being thrown into a dumpster on campus before Callan took over the route. In and effort to recycle, during Callan's years as Distribution Manager, he networked with a Boy Scout Troop 243 (Barret Avenue) as they had regular paper drives to collect newspapers. This meant that each week, thousands of unused (old or new) were no longer going into the dumpster. Eventually, Callan tried to locate other Boy Scout Troops or groups so that it would be more convenient to drop off extra papers when he was completing the route in that area of town.

On the days the paper was delivered late, whether 30-minutes or over 8+ hours late, it might mean that Callan had to just do his rounds in one area of town, but not do the complete loop. When these situations occurred, the "customers" might complain that they did not get papers and the office staff had to take the blame for getting their print negatives ("flats") to the printer too late. The printers had other rush customers and they had to make their money too.

Expanding the circulation was necessary in hopes that we sincerely would utilize the original 15,000 papers and then need more. There absolutely never was a need in the 1980s up to 2000 for 15,000 newspapers and it was wasteful to print all of those each week! Furthermore, the hope was that if we could increase the circulation, there would be more money for the Distribution Manager and the other staff members. Over all of his years with the paper, Callan attempted to get the reduction of the paper. The continue response was, "We must give the customers what they paid for. . ." but that was a false representation when 60% or more of the papers were recycled. It would have required at least 3-days to drop off 15,000 newspapers and that was not by a single person and/or a helper and trying to work between classes and study. There really needed to be at least two vans and having someone focus on Belknap and HSC, while another crew would visit all other locations (major shopping malls and Shelby Campus).

Absolutely each member of the Business Staff, the Writers, and the Printers had to do a great job for the rough draft version of the paper to become a film negative ("flat") and then someone got those to the printer late on Wednesday night. Normally, that would be the Editor's job. All of the effort of that team would rest upon Callan and either another student, maybe a homeless guy, or Callan's mom patiently awaiting for him to drop off 15,000 papers. Callan found that homeless people, around campus or in St. Matthews near the location of where Westport Road crossed the railroad tracks, were good places to find homeless or poor folks seeking employment.

Callan's grandparents lived in St. Matthews since the early 1930s and during the [Great Depression], unemployed persons would stand at the junction of Westport Road and the railroad tracks seeking employment. This goes back to the days when there were Interurban Trains (passenger carrying short trains) and the unemployed folks would hope to meet potential employers at this location and likely other similar spots in the city.

Newspaper Racks (1980s - 2001)

There were three primary styles of newspaper racks: 1. Small chrome racks that would hold a single bundle (100 papers), used in locations with low traffic or need. If there were more than one bundle, extras would be left behind the rack. These racks consisted of a base, vertical shaft, and a bent wire rack that embraced the five sides of the paper and allowed the customer to remove the paper from the top of the angled rack.

2. Cardinal Red Wooden vertical side-by-side "boxes", that really were not boxes. They were about 4-feet tall and about 3.5 feet wide. Each side of the rack would hold about five bundles and that meant an entire rack could hold about 1,000 newspapers. Most buildings never needed all of those papers. If too many were left, it meant dropping off a similar amount the following week and then picking up hundreds of unread papers from the prior week. Often, students sat in the racks, messing up the papers. There was white print that essentially said, "Cardinal Newspaper". Many of those racks still survive on campus, but others were brutalized over the years. They likely ended up in dumpsters or were stolen by students wanting a souvenir from campus.

3. In the 1990s, effort was made to make money from signage mounted above the vertical metal-tube with inner wire rack segments. These were the most sturdy of all racks and it was easy to put 1000 papers (10-bundles) into these racks. Even these latest racks did not generate enough money to increase the revenue and retain all of the workers around the years 2000-2001. While members were paid to work for the paper, the pay was too small to be the sole motivation, so members needed to have passionate for the job as well.

Delivery Van

These were the same white vans from the motor pool and available to professors and student groups. Some were about 8-12 passenger vans WITH SEATS and these were difficult vans as Callan had to figure out where to put those removable seat benches while he was working for about 12-hours of classes and dropping off the papers. On the sides of the vans were the official GREAT SEAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, so at least it meant that Callan NEVER had to pay for parking while driving the vans and parking in odd places. That part was fun. If he was running late for classes, he did not use the parking lots, he parked at the closest entrances to his classrooms and walked inside to class. Other students were jealous of his parking arrangement.

Callan's method was to only put new papers in the middle section of the van whether the bench seats were there or not. Instead of loading 100% of the papers, if it was a dry day, he would leave them under the Eastern Parkway overpass as that is where he and the delivery truck would meet. Then he would leave room in the front passenger seat for a partner or to hire a homeless person to help. If no one could be found, he filled that seat and carry more papers. The rear of the van was where old papers were placed. If Callan tried throwing out old papers in the buildings, then the janitors would complain to Callan or to the Business Manager.

If there were few papers left in a building in the middle of the week, some janitors threw out the old papers and Callan never had to pick up those papers and it made life easier.

Delivering during rainy days was a problem as serious amounts of ink would get all over Callan and his potential helpers. Almost each building they entered, it meant another trip to the restroom to keep from looking grubby with black streaks on white complexion arms.

Newspaper Printing

During the 1980s and up to 2000, the newspapers were printed in [Shepherdsville, KY] and a truck would drop them off on a pallet underneath the Eastern Parkway Overpass. Originally, they had to be signed for, but that delivery company often showed up hours late, depending on when the production staff got the original negatives to their printing shop, that it meant there were many fewer hours for distribution of the newspaper. As Callan had classes on Thursdays, (that was the distribution date in the 1980s-2000,) then it meant that he was trying to deliver papers well into the evening. Sometimes, Callan would hire homeless people to help in the distribution of the paper. That might include him buying them food in trade or giving them a few dollars as his payment was modest for such a large task. In 1986, it only paid $24ish to distribute the papers. Eventually (1996ish), that got increased to about $100 per week, but as the route continued to expand, it meant hiring an assistant. When the papers arrived late, that helper also had to attend classes and it was difficult to ensure all papers were distributed before the buildings were locked on Thursday evenings. That typically meant that papers had to be transferred to Callan's private car and then he would drop them off on Fridays. By that time, the "news" was about three days old and no one was going to pick up and read the papers until next week or not at all. Clearly, this was not a good plan.

In either 2000 or 2001, serious budget cuts to the newspaper meant that Callan would revert to the pay he was getting in 1986 and it was not profitable to continue working there if the office staff could not generate enough money in advertisements to pay for the distribution of the paper. Callan graduated in May 2000 with four simultaneous undergraduate degrees and then completed another undergraduate degree in May 2001. There was no profitable reason to continue with the newspaper after graduation. He occasionally got calls to return, but the prices they offered, it was not work returning Callan had begun a master's degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and after working there during the 1980s and up to 2000ish, he was not about to start his third decade. He later earned a Masters of Arts in Media Communication with Webster University and was able to convert some of the life experiences into papers he wrote for his second master's degree. Mostly, the discussed was about "How not to operate a newspaper."

On a positive note, in the late 1990s, a new Editor came aboard and he began making digital copies of the newspaper while continuing to keep hard copies too. This meant that the archive collections discussed in this webpage could be perpetuated into the future. Each year, thousands of hours of work are invested into the paper. While it was a long way from being perfect or paying real money, each of us attempted to learn as much as possible. As in any endeavor, one person could make positive and unique contributions if the sincere effort was asserted. That is why you see this major update for the Cardinal Newspaper today. About 15-years after Callan's departure, he is still hoping that the paper will thrive and learn from its past and avoid repeating previous mistakes. The paper is the voice for the students and they are the "customers" of the University of Louisville. While some administrators and students never pick up the paper, others do read it and that permits positive opportunities to improve the campus.

Most students never attend a college for 16-years and that is why Callan's experiences with the Louisville Cardinal Newspaper cover a couple of decades, even he was not employed there in the middle of his college career. He earned 321 credit hours and completed five undergraduate degrees. Working for the paper represented both the beginning and end of his years of being a professional college student at the University of Louisville.

The 1986-2001 updates to this profile were made by Hon. Brennan James Callan, Col., 3 May 2016.

Archives

The Louisville Cardinal Newspaper keeps a physical archive of past issues in their campus office at the University of Louisville, located in the Houchen's Building. An digital archive was created in 2014 and includes all subsequent issues.^[2]

Other publications

In 2013, The Louisville Cardinal Newspaper published a commemorative book for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship title. Unbreakable: Louisville's Inspired Championship Run features interviews, photography, and analysis produced by student reporters during the 2013 basketball season. The book also features writing about the University of Louisville's women's basketball team, who made it to the Final Four in the same season.^[3]

See also

• List of student newspapers

References

External links

• Official website