Andrew Vickers, associate editor for the Daily Texan

Claire is an editorial tour de force; everyday she is on the job, drafting one of her biting editorials, dealing with the dozens of egos and opinions that make up the Texan staff (or the thousands that make up the Texan readership), or gently reminding her associate editor to tone down his unnecessarily flowery rhetoric...in general just, pardon my French, getting shit done.

Though the University Powers-that-be are among the wealthiest and most powerful people on the planet, Claire has never once pulled a punch or bitten her tongue when there's a story to run or an editorial to compose attacking any of the sometimes shady dealing that swirls around some of our more renowned leadership. At the same time, she's a girl you'd love to slip out of the office with for a quick beer between edits.

Kathy Lawrence, director of Student Media for the University of Texas-Austin

I hope Claire Harlin not only remains in journalism but finds a solid career niche on the editorial page. Her work on The Daily Texan this year stands out, not just for its solid editorials, but for the scope of the work she has undertaken. Claire and her associate editors spend countless hours doing original fact gathering and checking before taking on the Texan governor, UT athletics, the dean of students, UT's approach to hazing and calling our attention to social justice issues.

In short, Claire is my all-time favorite editorial writer. She uses good journalistic skill to research, develop a viewpoint and then persuade her audience. She is courageous in the wake of criticism and has earned my deepest respect.

Adrienne Lee, managing editor for the Daily Texan

As a journalist, Claire is unique in that through her very well-researched editorials, she has been able to stir campus discussion. Quite frankly, she pisses off people just as often as she writes positively about others, and that's a sign of a good journalist and an especially good editor in chief.

Claire became editor just months after she stirred controversy throughout campus as a result of a column she wrote about student athletes. With UT being a very athletics-focused campus, any questioning of athletics really affect this campus. She grew as a journalist in that she heard and took extreme criticism pointed at her column and at her as an individual (a Facebook group denouncing her). She learned that even the controversies start conversation and that's a goal of hers: get people talking and hope it will effect changes.

Leah Finnegan, incoming editor-in-chief for the Daily Texan

Claire is — and she fully admits this — messy. Her desk is a mountain of miscellaneous newspapers, classified documents, earrings and empty bottles of tea. But she functions magnificently in her nest. During one of the Democratic presidential candidate debates earlier this year, Barack Obama admitted his desk was like this, too, but that he always knew where everything was and his messiness made him a better leader. Claire's like that — she's got so much going on, and yet amidst commotion, she's a beacon of calm, cool collectedness.

Source | The Daily Texan
Our vice president of diversity and community engagement certainly engaged students Wednesday night - in a heated dispute marked by indignation and emotion.

Source | The Daily Texan
"Location, recording hours and technical specifications of surveillance cameras." That's what former Daily Texan reporter Jonathan York requested of the University in 2002 under the Freedom of Information Act, in an attempt to inform the UT community about how, when, where and in what capacity people on campus are being watched.

Source | The Daily Texan
A year ago today, the world lost a woman who was very close to me but never knew it. I met her on one occasion in October of 2002. A UT freshman on one of my first assignments for the Texan, I shook hands and talked briefly with her after she spoke at a Planned Parenthood regional conference. No person has inspired me more than this remarkable woman: Molly Ivins.

Source | The Daily Texan
Newspapers around the world face a changing media landscape and digital divide, and media outlets are struggling to hold the attentions of young readers. College papers, however, have a bit of an advantage: Their audiences are the next generation of media consumers, and that's exactly who media magnates are starving for in order to stay afloat. But Big Media seems to have developed an unfair strategy to combat the predicament - If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.