The Aquinian is a student-owned-and-operated campus newspaper, at St. Thomas University (STU) in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The newspaper was established in 1935. It's published on a weekly basis during the regular academic year. The paper is a member paper of Canadian University Press.
Contents
The Aquinian's mission is "...to foster a sense of community at STU by developing and promoting dialogue on issues of concern to the community."
The Aquinian launched its website in the fall of 2007 with TheAq.net [1].
Recent history
Before the 2004/2005 academic year, the newspaper was printed biweekly in broadsheet format. In the fall of 2004, the editorial staff scaled the paper down to tabloid format which made it financially feasible to print on a weekly basis.
Controversies
St. Thomas University gained international headlines in autumn 2004 when the paper published a photo taken of four University of New Brunswick (UNB) rugby players streaking across the university's rugby pitch. The incident generated huge interest in the paper among students and regional, national and international media. It was also a controversy among UNB students and administration as the four players captured in the photo were suspended from playing in the Maritime men's university rugby championship, which the team went on to lose. [2] The four players in the photo were among at least ten who partook in the bare festivities. [3]
The paper's content came under fire in the 2005/2006 academic year after it published an opinion piece on student apathy towards the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It was accompanied by a photograph of a dead Iraqi soldier who had allegedly been run over by a tank. The image was taken from the controversial website, nowthatsfuckedup.com. The paper came under further scrutiny after publishing a questionable column on fitness ("Low Resolution") by then-arts editor Max Maxwell. In the piece, he made several incorrect assumptions about his primary subject. One apparent problem turned out to be a simile comparing the student's willpower to that of a donkey, chasing a carrot. Many misread the phrase as having described the main subject as looking like a donkey. A brief controversy arose when the student then disposed of several copies of the issue the piece was printed in, instructed to do so by St. Thomas' then-Students' Union President, Sofia Rodriguez-Gallagher. Maxwell was given the choice to either resign or be fired.
The paper generated a significant amount of negative attention following articles printed with regards to the resignation of a Students' Union Vice President. The writer of said articles was accused of prying into the personal life of the Vice President, reporting rumours and speculation as fact, and citing unprofessional sources. When asked for an apology by the Students' Representative Council, Editor in Chief Liam McGuire refused and maintained that the writer had done nothing wrong.