By snoadmin
Those who doubt a woman’s ability to lead haven’t spent a day in the basement of Cal Sate Long Beach’s Social Science and Public Administration building. No, we’re not talking about some journalism professor or university administrator. We’re referring to none other than Daily 49er Editor in Chief Joanne Tucker.
Tucker not only made a point to lead fairly and appropriately, but she also let everyone else know who she is. This isn’t to say she was pretentious. On the contrary, her hard work and seemingly compulsive need for perfection was a leading example to all of us.
Above all else, Tucker was the quintessential female leader. Well-informed and well-reasoned, she proved time and again that gender has no bearing on ability.
In wake of her departure, the opinions section has dedicated itself to issues regarding gender equality because, as she feels the need to overcome these issues, we feel the need to represent them.
Tucker understood that gender equality is more of a problem with perception than with anything else. Her first news article, “U got a problem?,” fairly represented the voice of CSULB women who protested a campus-organized Ludacris concert.
“His lyrics are misogynistic, racist, homophobic, they glamorize capitalism and overconsumption, and promote violence against women,” said Marina Wood, organizer of the protest.
Tucker would often encourage gender-neutral language in all Daily 49er news articles. “Man” would be edited to “humanity” and “he” to “they.” These changes were not outlandish. They simply stressed the belief that a positive perception of women is what will eventually lead to respect and equality.
If society views women as equal, only then will they be considered equal. In other words, gender equality transcends how much American women get paid or the percentage of women in charge of Fortune 500 companies.
This is why we’re sure recent news from France would surprise anyone of this opinion.
A new law being pushed in the French parliament would require listed companies to meet a quota of women on their executive boards. By 2016, if the law were passed, French corporations would have to increase the proportion of women on their boards up to 40 percent. Currently, women only represent 11 percent of French board members.
According to The Economist, chief executive officers have acknowledged that women for these positions would not be selected on merit but rather on their ability to “look decorative and not rock the boat.”
Certainly, our editor in chief was hired for her merit. She, like any other human being — female or otherwise — was deemed the best candidate. Tucker redesigned the Daily 49er, helped promote the creation of Beach News and revamped our comment policy to not only protect our staff but also to preserve the First Amendment rights of our readers.
So, it is with great sadness that we watch Tucker leave, but we understand that she is off to bigger and better things. This makes us happy for her.
Her uncanny ability to balance school and excellence in the newsroom will undoubtedly lead to something special in her near future. We don’t know what it is yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if an Our View in the future was written to support her candidacy for United States president.
Wherever she ends up, she will end up doing it well. This, based on our experience with “the chief,” is no opinion. Goodbye Joanne and good luck
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