Cuesta College’s student run newspaper, The Cuestonian, is moving away from print and towards a completely online platform amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the recent San Luis Obispo County shelter-in-place order, Cuesta College has ceased all laboratory classes, according to an emergency Board of Trustees meeting held on Wednesday, March 18.

This cease of labs includes The Cuestonian. 

The Cuestonian’s advisor, Cyrus Saatsaz, made the decision on Tuesday, March 17, before the shelter-in-place announcement. 

The result of no labs includes the staff not creating a print newspaper for the rest of the semester. The decision was made because of a lack of distribution audience as there are no students on campus, the contagious manner of the disease, and upon consultation with Cal Poly’s Mustang News, who decided to go online a week earlier.

The newspaper staff and us Editor-in-Chiefs were extremely disappointed to learn that our lab hours would be canceled. As journalists, we see it as our duty to factually report the news we hear. We believe that there is no greater time for factual journalism then now.

As student journalists, we see it as our duty to continue to learn how to report that news. That continuation of learning is reliant on our lab. Without our lab, we are unable to learn as efficiently how to use Adobe Suite software, how to design advertisements, and distribution.

Despite the halt on our lab, we are happy to be taking preventative measures to be safe and healthy.

We look forward to learning more about the WordPress platform, which is the official Content Management System (CMS) of The Cuestonian, and delivering news to Cuesta College students via the official webpage.

During the emergency Board of Trustees meeting on March 18, it was clear that Cuesta College’s COVID-19 response team is working to make sure that students’ needs are met.

These needs include student health services, online library services, and the food pantries in SLO and North County. The food pantry in SLO is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and in North County Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Snacks will be available between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Student Life and Leadership offices.

We were very proud of our print newspaper and how much work was put into it. We hope we will have another chance to express our stories in news’ most classic form. For now, keep an eye on Cuestonian.com and stay safe. 

Ava Kershner contributed to this editorial.