Breaking news shocked Villanova’s campus last Saturday, March 15. Everyone remembers exactly where they were when they received the email. It was one of those moments in life that you will always remember. My generation has lived through a lot of life altering events, but I think this one holds a significant amount of importance.
Of course, this news affects the whole world, but there is a certain extra level of significance for Villanova. As we all know, The Villanovan was the first to break the news on Saturday morning. That is considerably cool. I am very proud of my editorial staff for having the network and capability to do something so cool.
Where was I when my colleagues were chasing down sources and writing articles at all hours of the morning? Well, I was sleeping. That’s not really my job. My job is to report whatever they tell me to.
Full transparency, I was also sleeping when the email went out. I didn’t lie earlier. I do remember where I was when I received the email; I was in my bed, fast asleep.
Eventually, I did wake up to the news, and, let me tell you, it was a real shock. I will never forget hearing the words “No more Neptune” from my roommate.
No more Neptune? What did she mean? How could this happen? How could she say it with no emotion? How could I have slept through something like this?
When I asked how she found out, she told me there was an email from Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA President. Once I heard that, I knew there was no arguing. It must be true if Father Peter sent an email about it.
I finally got the opportunity to look at all the texts I missed from The Villanovan staff and they confirmed it. No more Neptune. Plus, we broke the news. Good for us.
I still had questions, but sometimes asking questions just makes you look stupid. I didn’t want to be the only person who was confused about this news, so I kind of just went with what I was told.
There was still one major question bothering me though: Why did Villanova care so much?
I mean, clearly, we cared enough to be the ones to break the news. But, why? I know that we have an Astronomy major, but I didn’t know that it was that serious.
We’re a basketball school, not a space school, so why on Earth do we care about Neptune no longer being a planet?
It’s great that ESPN credited us with the news, but why did ESPN care anyway? I’m super proud of the editorial staff, but I really feel like NASA should have taken point on this one.
I’m gonna be honest with you, I never really cared about the Milky Way all that much. I definitely do not know all the planets or their order from the sun.
However, it did always rub me the wrong way that we dropped Pluto from our solar system. Like, I get that it’s not big enough to be a real planet or whatever, but I always felt bad for the little guy. We could’ve kept him around. It’s not like he was hurting anyone.
I thought a lot of people agreed with me about that too. You always hear people talking about how they think Pluto should get its planet status back. If that’s the case, why were they so cool with Neptune being dropped now?
All I’ve heard since the news broke was how excited everyone was that Neptune was gone. I didn’t know everyone hated Neptune so much. It’s pretty messed up that everyone feels bad for Pluto, but when it’s Neptune, nobody bats an eye.
I didn’t want to ask any questions, but I did decide to research the ex-planet for my own sake. Neptune is a very nice blue color. It kind of reminds me of Villanova’s colors. (Perhaps this is why we got to break the news? Still unknown.)
I also found out that Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun. I guess it makes sense why we can drop it so easily. That’s super sad though. You can’t just erase a planet because it’s farthest away from the sun. That’s like no longer being friends with someone because they move. It’s messed up.
There are a lot of different opinions going around right now. Everyone has something to say. I’m sure you’re all waiting for my official stance on the matter, and I am happy to give it.
I say “Justice for Neptune.” I don’t like how mean everyone is being. I think Neptune was a great planet, and I’m sad to see it go.
