COLUMN: Say hello to your paper

    Hello, and welcome to another exciting year of upper-academia. We at The Utah Statesman are committed to providing you with the information you need to better navigate your time here at Utah State: cutting-edge news coverage, in-depth features on campus and community events, and all the buzz on Aggie athletics.

    Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had to choose, he would prefer to have newspapers and no government, rather than government with no newspapers. We at the Statesman understand this responsibility that we hold, and take our job – serving you as readers and members of the USU community – very seriously.

    As we find ourselves undertaking this venture I feel the need to reach out and offer my advice for taking full advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, student-staffed campus newspaper – campus voice since 1902. Yeah, we know that’s impressive.

Read it

   The Statesman is free. Really. We publish every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that classes are held, and in addition to the brain-wrinkling knowledge packed in every page, you just might score a coupon for a free smoothie at McDonalds.

   Just about everything that happens on campus, a good deal of what happens in Cache Valley, some stuff that goes on in Utah and a little bit of international sugar on top make up the delicious cocktail found in every issue of The Utah Statesman.

   Want to know where the Logan Lurker is going to strike next – or at least where he’s already…stricken? – or what legal grey area Anthony DiLoreto has found himself in? Want to know what new college is going to emerge next out of HASS – I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t Journalism and Communications – or what time the paint dance on the quad starts? Read it in the Statesman.

    We are human, sadly, and as such we may fall short of absolute perfection. I can assure you, however, that we are working our absolute hardest at printing the most accurate, comprehensive, and timely campus information.

Write it

   The Statesman is a fully-functioning independent student newspaper. We employ a full range of positions ranging from staff reporters, movie reviewers and columnists to ad salesmen and photographers. We pay, and we’re hiring.

   Or, for those of you who occasionally  have a bone to pick without needing the regular obligation of producing copy for admittedly meager pay, write us a letter. Our opinion page is an open forum for the marketplace of ideas. Whether you’re a registered student, a faculty member, or a concerned parent who has picked up an issue to distract from the backwards-walking fauxhawk guiding your tour of campus, our editorial arms are open to you. Guidelines for our letters to the editor can be found in this section.

    Express your thanks to the administration for its calm, steady hand in directing the affairs of our university. Offer your side to an allegedly ill-reported story. Shed insight into an ongoing subject of community discussion, or, for you more high-profile players, share a heartfelt mea culpa for some cataclysmic indiscretion. We love that last category especially.

   If, by chance, you find yourself standing upon a soap box that requires more than a 400-word maximum, stop by the office and pitch us a guest column – especially you faculty, step up!

Be it

   While we can’t offer free publicity to every campus organization, the backburner and online calendar are open to any event that pertains in any way, shape or form to USU. The campus briefs section is also available for more newsworthy announcements, and advertisements can be purchased at affordable rates for student groups.

    News happens every day, all around us. Often we see it and shrug it off as unimportant or irrelevant. Don’t hesitate to tell us when news is happening around you. We would never advocate that you and your roommates rob a bank, light yourselves on fire, or instigate a nude protest parade around the quad; but that said, if your neighbors do, make sure you let us know.

   On the softer side, our features section is constantly looking for an interesting and compelling story. Maybe your frat brother can reproduce the Mona Lisa by painting with his eyelashes or perhaps a girl in your dorm is actually the princess of a Pacific Island nation that was smuggled to the U.S. by Somali pirates. Frankly, if any of you have any connection to Somali pirates, introduce yourself to me immediately.

    We exist to tell your story. Whether it is something that you, or a group of you, have accomplished, caused, or instigated; or a campus occurrence that may pertain to you in any way, we will do our best to have it in print and on the stands. This is your news, this is your school and we would certainly hope that you come to think of us as your newspaper.

    Benjamin Wood is the editor in cheif of The Utah Statesman. He can be reached at TSC 105, statesmaneditor@aggiemail.usu.edu, or by calling 797-1745.