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fOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, WE HAVE INVITED subscribers
to join our online reader panel (www.cornellalumni
magpanel.com) and respond to surveys on a number of
subjects. In 2005, we asked you about the magazine's editorial
content, posing questions about such subjects as how much
time you spend reading CAM and which sections you read most
regularly.We recently ran another editorial survey, and almost 600
of you responded--for which I thank you. That survey included
some open-ended questions including this one: "Please describe
or name the articles you remember most from recent issues of
Cornell Alumni Magazine.What about them did you like or not
like? Why do you think you remember them?"
We received 405 responses, and I asked intern Julia Langer '08
to go through them and tally the number of times individual articles
were mentioned. The top ten are shown above, along with the
number of readers who named them. (There are actually eleven because there
was a tie for fifth place.) And I should note that not
everyone liked the articles they named; one reader said the profile
of Keith Olbermann '79 was "crap"--but still found
it memorable.
Since we asked for articles from recent issues, it's not surprising
that most of these ran in the six months preceding the survey.
Nor is it surprising that seven are cover stories, as most readers
remember magazines because of who or what was on the cover.
But the exceptions are quite interesting, especially the inclusion of
articles on Paul Wolfowitz '65 (July/August 2004) and the resignation
of President Jeffrey Lehman '77 (September/October 2005).
Most amazing, perhaps, was the fact that four readers named an
article by Brad Herzog '90 called "Locked In," about
a Cornell student
who suffered a stroke that left her unable to speak or move.
It ran in July/August 1999. I can only hope that we'll continue to
offer articles that stick in your mind as much as that one did.
-- Jim Roberts '71 |
