The Red Sox and the Yankees.

Edison and Tesla.

Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

Generation and The Spectrum.

Now, wait one second. I don’t want to say that the rivalry between this dandy of a publication and the campus’ tri-weekly newspaper is something that is worth writing home about. Let’s face it: It’s played out like your dad’s copy of Dark Side of the Moon, and the history behind it eludes even the most veteran of current staffers on either end. My own recollection relates the feud to something about a Keith Richards bobblehead and maybe a couple of Photoshopped marmosets, but even those occurrences happened late in the fight. And while, at times, this rivalry of sorts can serve to be a notch above barely entertaining, aside from the snarky remarks we cast up at 315 SU critiquing headlines and grammar and captions and copy about our neighbors from two floors below, there isn’t much to bicker about. Like I said, do you even know where this started? It’s kind of like Mr. T vs Rocky. Everyone knows Ivan Drago butchered Apollo Creed, but what did B.A. Baracus do that warranted a pummel from Balboa? Exactly.

I’m not one to back down from something stupid—you can ask any one of my writers for confirmation. So then, why would we bother, not just publishing something about The Spectrum, but not stomping on their downtrodden faces? With every campus publication currently undergoing scrutiny from every which direction, and the future of all three outlets uncertain to some degree or another (this is Generation, The Spectrum, and Visions, of course), if for nothing else, it is imperative that the student body at UB know about the future of the publications before there isn’t anyone left to tell them about it. With the presumably impending hush of the students responsible for “the student voice” that is this magazine, if you are looking for information on campus from an impartial source, it might not be long before your sources are limited even further than they already are, and your options won’t surpass much more than the trusty old rumor mill.

When you read this week’s story called “Both Sides of the Spectrum,” you’ll note that there is no playing favorites between Generation and either The Spectrum or SA. While we have lampooned and critiqued both entities many times over, it is important for the rest of the school, outside of either of those organizations, to know what is happening. While The Spectrum and Visions have each published editorials about the ongoing debacle between the two, it is not just our choice to report on the matter, but when you kind of look at it, our duty. If not us, then whom?

Here in the biz we have a little word called “bias.” Let’s think about it: When The Spectrum tells you that this and that is happening to The Spectrum, you’re going to think it’s a bit one-sided, no? And what about the SA? Well, they have Visions, a magazine established originally for solely perpetuating SA activities and clubs, though it has adopted a more feature story-friendly format in recent years. Even Visions is rumored to be on the verge of extinction.

This doesn’t mean that we think The Spectrum is awesome. This doesn’t mean that we’re down with SA, either. With the editorial autonomy of Generation already jeopardized by our own publisher, our presentation of “Both Sides of the Spectrum” this week is not just a mere plea for a resolution between The Spectrum and SA. Take this as a chance to hear about something that would otherwise go unreported, or at least, reported with a tad of that new word. Let’s try it together. Bias. Nice.

So, the SA wants some representation on The Spectrum’s board of directors, in exchange for the money it funnels down to the paper’s budget. That’s student money going through the student’s association, right? Now, this is no time for this young fella to be taking sides, and even if I was, I wouldn’t know where to start. But if you want to know where your money is going, who says it is going there, and you want to know all this before your own money can’t even give you an unbiased outlet to report the facts by the students, for the students, give this week’s story a good read. Knowing the new SA officials about to take office deferred comment doesn’t make me feel any better about it, and frankly, you shouldn’t either.