New board to lead 'DP' into 114th year of publication

For the past year, 25 students have locked themselves away in a windowless office building at 4014 Walnut Street. But after living two semesters without sunlight and pushing to make 3 a.m. deadlines, The Daily Pennsylvanian's 113th Board of Managers and Editors will hand over the reins tomorrow evening at the paper's annual inaugural banquet. During their term, the DP's editors and managers covered Provost Stanley Chodorow's resignation, reported on a football eligibility controversy that forced the team to forfeit all but one game and informed the public of the University's decision to outsource facilities management to the Trammell Crow Co. All the while, they oversaw the DP's first year publishing in full color and recommitted themselves to improve the quality of reporting in the paper. The DP won the Pacemaker Award for the first time since 1989-1990 as the country's best collegiate daily, and was honored with the Trendsetter Award for technological innovation relating to the full colorization of the paper. And the DP recorded its highest profit in history. But the upcoming year promises even more changes as the 114th Board officials takes over officially, beginning with next Monday's issue. Incoming Executive Editor Michael Mugmon, who has served as the paper's copy editor for the past year, has pointed to a few areas that he will be focusing his attention on. Most notably, Mugmon says this will be a pivotal year for the DP Interactive, which will provide readers with additional information to supplement the print version. Already, DPI has begun linking full-text documents and related World Wide Web sites to the DP's regular reporting. Mugmon, who will serve as president and CEO of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., will be flanked by incoming Managing Editor Yochi Dreazen and incoming Business Manager Russell Bloomfield. The three will lead the 26-person board into the DP's 114th year of publication. Dreazen has served as city news editor for the past year. The Chicago native has served as an at-large member of the DP's executive board, which is responsible for the corporations long-term planning and is also ultimately responsible for all content that appears in the DP's various publications. Dreazen, who will oversee all of the editorial operations, has worked professionally at The Jerusalem Post and The Chicago Sun-Times. Bloomfield was the DP's first-ever classified sales manager and is largely responsible for the department's success in its first 1 1/2 years of life. The Wharton junior, concentrating in finance, will manage the DP's business board and serve as vice president of the corporation.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.