The Stony Brook University School of Journalism, along with the departments of political science, English, history and sociology, took in a new professor this school year: Carl Bernstein.

Carl Bernstein, winner (along with his co-reporter, Bob Woodward) of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for his work in the uncovering of the 1972 Watergate Scandal during the Nixon Administration, has joined Stony Brook University’s staff, where he will be a visiting presidential professor. This semester, as part of his two-year contract with the university, he will be co-teaching JRN 390, a course titled “Press and the Presidency,” with Professor James Klurfeld, also of the journalism department.

Besides the fact that Stony Brook University can have a man like Mr. Bernstein teach here, the implications of the ability to hire a man like Mr. Bernstein are much more important to our university as a whole.

The hiring of Mr. Bernstein shows that our school is starting to become a university that has the ability to get big name people to come and teach at our school, which only benefits the student body, as we receive the ability to be taught by a man with the reputation of Mr. Bernstein. We, as a university, are only going higher up on the academic charts, as we are surpassing many other colleges with Stony Brook coming in as the 82nd best university in the United States of America, ranked in the top 1 percent of universities in the U.S.

By adding Mr. Bernstein to the academic staff, Stony Brook is showing that it is capable of adding high-profile people to its teaching department, which reflects positively on the school as a whole. By doing this, Stony Brook has opened up the potential for even more high-profile people to join the university’s staff, which will only bring up our already-soaring reputation as a school. As our ranking increases, the university’s federal aid, and perhaps donations from outside funding will also increase, which will benefit the student body in the long run.

The hiring of Mr. Bernstein is also beneficial to the students, especially to those that are taking his class, as they are being taught by a man who lived and uncovered one of the greatest cover ups in the history of the United States. Nothing is better than learning history from a man who experienced it first-hand.

Mr. Bernstein’s appointment to the academic staff not only enhances the journalism department, but also Stony Brook as a whole. With the addition of Mr. Bernstein and hopefully others like him, our school will become a bolstered academic powerhouse, benefiting from increases funds, more determined students and a strong staff. Our school will be second to none in the entire nation. Having Mr. Bernstein here, teaching at our university, is a big step forward towards an already blaring bright future for all of Stony Brook.