EDITORIAL LICENSE
-----------------
by Deirdre Cerkanowicz 

     Here it is, the first anniversary of _The West Richmond Channel_.  In the
cyclical nature of things, we are publishing the back to school issue again.
We have up-dated information on Washington Elementary School's Many
Hands program, and we are letting our readers know about the Coast Clean
up again.  As part of our education theme we are featuring  some "non"
traditional training programs located in Richmond.
   Our first issue was 16 pages long and this issue is a whopping big 24 pages.
We have expanded our coverage to surrounding areas, so you will note articles
about events in neighboring San Pablo and El Sobrante.
     We continue to be extolled and maligned on various fronts.  We have been
called "a bright spot in the journalist scene, "too" environmental,
inflammatory, communists, anti-business, and a great resource for
businesses and  the community, alike.  Keep up the comments, it means you
are reading us!
     We are taking advantages of advances in technology by composing more of
the paper on computer.  We are now able to take articles off most PC discs as
well as Macintoshes.  We can even receive articles over E-mail and Internet,
but I confess I'm still a bit green at it, so bear with us as we make our way
through the Information Jungle, ( some call it a Highway, but they must be
talking about westbound 80 at 7:30 in the morning.) I have been lucky to
have enlisted several very capable and dedicated interns since the first issue.
Unfortunately most are around for only a short time before they go on with
their studies or careers.
     Scott Cech, who graduated from UC Berkeley, who helped me on several
issues is now employed writing for the city desk of the _Alameda Journal_.
Lizette Wilson, also from Berkeley has taken a break from us to take a
paying job with a small paper in Orinda.  Karen de Sa^, of Contra Costa
College and San Francisco State, who juggled writing and proofreading for
us (while giving birth to a girl and taking care of her burgeoning family) now
writes for the _West County Times_.  Sara Bhattacharjee, who graduated with a
degree in communications from my alma mater, Mills College, types up
many of the articles and items submitted that aren't on a disk (and there are
lots of them) and assists with proofreading and marketing.  Sara promises to
write some film reviews soon.
     Kristen Schmid who researched, wrote and photographed this issue's
features on non-traditional forms of learning available in Richmond and next
issue's essay on Community Policing, is attending Stanford.  She was in a
special program at Oxford, England in the spring, and we also will publish
some of her photographs of Richmond, England in the next issue!  In
addition to getting ready for school in the fall, she is working part time for
the _Palo Alto Weekly_.
     _The Channel_ offers a great opportunity to hone marketable skills such as
proofreading, editing, computer graphic design, photography, writing and
advertising sales.  We would love to help assist local people, so if you are
interested, or know of someone looking for an opportunity to learn about
publishing a small regional newsmagazine -- this is the place.  Currently, only
the advertising sales position offer any money, but the experience gained is
invaluable in career advancement, or to get that needed experience for that
first "real" job.  We would especially be interested in volunteers with access
to their own computers and modems for editing and proofreading, as we gain more
experience with these modern editorial capabilities.   We hope to be able to
offer more than experience and an occasional free ad to our writers, but it
takes more exposure and more advertisements. 
     Like a child, the Channel has been growing.  Like parents of more
traditional children we are now able to sleep a little better at nights than
when the paper was just an infant, but we still devote much attention to our
"child".  We are very proud of her and like to show her off.  We hope you like
her too.

Sincerely,

Deirdre Cerkanowicz
Editor and Publisher
Channel Publications