I’d like to think that the Marquette Journal is a very forward-thinking magazine. Our articles are always centered on “what’s new” — and even more than that, how “what’s new” will affect you in the future. So if we’re so preoccupied with the present and with the future, why then does our cover have that old building on it? Why are we suddenly talking about the past?

Any history professor will tell you: the past dictates the present. And logically, when you look back tomorrow, today will be in the past, so ipso facto the past also affects the future.

In our case, Milwaukee’s past has affected our present quite a bit. As you’ll read in the article “Milwaukee’s Best” (p. 18), it was the efforts of a few individuals that kept Milwaukee from becoming a small town like Manitowoc or Sheboygan. Railroads brought industry, industry brought jobs (and that distinctive Milwaukee smell) and jobs brought people. If Milwaukee had ended up a small town, would Marquette have even existed? One can only guess.

It’s easy to see how the past has affected our present here at Marquette. But what about the future? Milwaukee’s changing job market can tell us a lot about where the future of industry is going, and what we can expect when we look for jobs after graduation. In our new “Journal Jabber” section (p. 12), you’ll read about how hard (or easy) it can be to find a job, and how the changing job market might put you in a career you never expected.

Of course, it’s not good to just look at the past believing that we need to change from it. Sometimes it’s good to look at the past for inspiration, for things and ideas that were abandoned too quickly before their merits were discovered. In “Electric Music” (p. 14), you’ll read about how the digital music revolution is helping bands find an audience and how some people are beginning re-embrace the vinyl record for its superior sound quality. “Milwaukee’s Best” also highlights some of Milwaukee’s finest architecture, which was unfortunately lost during a period of “urban renewal” — proof that newer isn’t always better.

So yes, this issue of our forward-thinking magazine has gone a bit “old timey”. Hopefully you’ll learn some facts that you were always curious about, or maybe, just maybe, the past will give you some neat insights about the future.

Sincerely,
Greg Shutters