The Spectrum covered the board in the 2015-16 school year, keeping readers up-to-date on top breaking news, sports, arts and entertainment, features and opinion stories. Here are the top stories of the school year:
10. The 10th most read story of 2015-16 was an opinion piece highlighting the Illuminati and its roots in religion. In the piece, staff writer Matt Frohlich said Illuminism, the religion for which the Illuminati are based, is a secret religion that often goes by other names, such as the occult, witchcraft, satanism and paganism.
9. Responsible Policies for Animals, an animal rights non-profit highlighted the 9th top story of 2015-16. The news story discussed how the animal rights non-profit contacted North Dakota State president Dean Bresciani, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple and The Spectrum with a petition letter to have the animal science program removed from NDSU.
8. A tribute to Scott Miller was the 8th most read story of the 2015-16 school year. Sports columnist Connor Dunn wished his best to the now late bison radio network broadcaster who was undergoing serious health ailments at the time.
7. Doug Burgum helped build a wall around the seventh most read story of the latest school year. Jack Dura, Spectrum Staff member, wrote the satire piece of Doug Burgum desiring to channel his inner Donald Drumpf to build a wall between the Dakotas, and to make South Dakota pay for it.
6. Dura also wrote the 6th most read story of the previous school year. In it he highlighted the top spring break destination for NDSU students in 1969, which was Zap, ND.
5. An opinion piece from Spectrum Staff member Ben Norman scored a touchdown to rank as the 5th most read story of the 2015-16 school year. Norman wrote about students yelling “Sioux suck shit” at the NDSU vs University of North Dakota football game, saying that similar phrases would not be used as publicly for different ethnic groups.
4. The Fighting Hawks were also involved in the 4th most read story of 2015-16. Opinion writer Jon Lipp first congratulated UND on its men’s hockey national title win, but then continued to express his disappointment with the school’s fans and their representation of North Dakota.
3. Recovering heroin addict Logan Johnk told his story of addiction and seeking help with assistance from head news editor Jack Dura, a story which would reach the third most read story from the 2015-16 school year.
2. Sports editor Pace Maier fooled his way into writing the second most read story of the school year. Maier wrote a satire piece in The Spectrum’s annual April Fool’s edition about the now Philadelpha Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz forgoing the NFL draft to become a minister.
1. Oh, you betcha know what the top story of the school year is. Spectrum Staff member Jack Dura discussed his favorite television show “Fargo” in an opinion piece that ranked as the most read story of the last school year.