The Missouri Miner: Editors-in-Chief: Roger A. Neidel

Research Project: 100 years of
The Missouri Miner 1915-2015

Est'd. 1915, Fred Grotts, Founder

Roger A. Neidel
EIC 1949-1950

This exchange is pieced together from mail correspondence occurring between April 2007 and the present.
Words in brackets have been added for continuity due to this piecing process. -RB

RB: From when to when were you Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Miner? Who preceded and followed you in that position? Share your memories of these individuals.

RN: I served in the academic year of 1949-1950. I was preceded by Bob Buel. I do not know who followed. I had little contact with either individual.

RB: What other positions did you hold on the Missouri Miner staff? How were elections held?

RN: I previously worked as a features writer for the paper. Elections were held at the end of the year for the major offices by the staff. Harry Chapman attempted to rig the election in 1949 by getting together a slate with backing from each fraternity. He was to become editor. The Theta Kappa Phi group--which included Bob Buel--revolted and nominated me for editor. It was a complete suprise to me. I won, but the rest of Harry's slate was elected.

RB: What were the biggest challenges you faced as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Miner?

RN: In any volunteer organization, the biggest challenge is getting participation and performance. I was blessed with a competent staff who performed their tasks admirably.

RB: What were your greatest accomplishments as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Miner? What issues were most important to you?

RN: Probably the greatest achievement of my tenure [was] meeting the deadline each week. Classes in that period ran from 7AM to 10PM because of the large enrollment. Everyone was tired and stressed. On the matter of issues, I would say that integration of the student population was the most important.

RB: What "big" stories are most memorable to you and why?

RN: Being a weekly publication, we mainly documented facts that everyone already knew. There was one week when we actually had a "scoop". The Stevens College Choir was to present a program for us, and this was the lead story on page one. On press day, I received a call that a flu epidemic had forced cancellation of the concert. The printer wanted to go ahead with the planned layout and simply add a note at the bottom of the page, but I insisted that we rewrite the story. For the only time in my work on the paper, we actually printed news.

RB: What effect did major national events (i.e. wars, assassinations, etc.) have on the Missouri Miner's reporting? How did you handle these events?

RN: The U.S. was between wars and we did not devote attention to national affairs.

RB: How significant a role do you feel you and the Missouri Miner played in campus life during your tenure as Editor-in-Chief?

RN: As the voice of the student body we were somewhat a unifying force for campus affairs. There was not full agreement with positions we might take, but the dissemination of information helped bring groups together.

RB: How did your time as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Miner help prepare you for life after college? What lessons did you learn?

RN: I suppose that the greatest lesson was that "the pen is mightier than the sword." The writing experience has stood me in good stead through my working years. It led to an offer to work on the staff of the WESTINGHOUSE ENGINEER — a position I did not get because my engineering manager refused to release me.

RB: What was your staff like at the Miner?

RN: My staff was hardworking and dedicated. We had to muzzle our advertising manager because the paper wasn't big enough to print all that he sold.

RB: Who was the newspaper's faculty advisor?

RN: Prof. J. J. Jelinek

RB: Where was the Missouri Miner's office? What equipment did you use to produce the newspaper every week? If you published at the Rolla Daily News (the local city paper), what was your relationship with Ed/Steve Sowers? If not, where did you publish the paper?

RN: I do not remember which building housed the Miner office. We rarely used it anyway. The paper was printed by the Rolla Daily News using their old linotype machine and flatbed press. Our relationship with Mr. Sowers was very good, but he was always concerned that we would disrupt his own flow of work.

RB: How would you describe your management style?

RN: My management style has always been to give responsible parties full rein to do their job as they see fit. Interference was not necessary at any time during my tenure.

RB: Describe your relationship with the administration at MSM/UMR.

RN: Our relations were excellent. Dean Wilson was most forgiving and tolerent. At one time he called myself and the Student President on the carpet for editorials we had written. He demanded a retraction which we wrote. His concern was that parents of the students read the paper and may have gotten some wrong impressions. I was later advised that my retraction, while apologetic, still left the accusation on the table.

RB: Describe your relationship with Student Council at MSM/UMR.

RN: We had a very good relationship with the Student Council. We shared goals for the university.

RB: Summarize your thoughts and feelings about your time as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Miner.

RN: I might say that publishing the newspaper was the greatest experience of my lifetime. It came at a time when I was growing and learning at a fast pace. My first choice of a career was journalism, and I wish I could have pursued it more vigorously.