Come claim your Pulitzer

Welcome back, SMU! Everything seems so bright on the first day. Freshly starched Polos abound, girls who haven’t seen each other in “ages” scream and hug, there’s standing room only in every frat house for the first two weeks and glittering rows of SUVs fill the parking lots.

We at The Daily Campus staff worked hard last week, putting the first issue out for all the fine first-years and their parents. What a fine class! You guys are trouble – it’s in your eyes.

Now, we’re happy to begin serving the rest of the community. That 22-pager Thursday made us want to pull our hair out, but we made it through and are riding high on our way to a great semester. The class of 2006 has made its presence known in the police reports, and we can’t wait to report on everything it does, glorious or grotesque.

We’re excited about the changes taking place all over campus. Lots of new buildings and renovations, especially in our beloved journalism department. The Belo newsroom will open after Labor Day and our terrific faculty has familiar and new faces. It’s a wonderful time to be learning the ways of the media at SMU.

But not all of us want to become journalists. We understand that. Our goal is not to recruit you, necessarily, but to provide a voice for the student body – the entire student body. A goal of ours is to cover every group on campus, big or small.

This year we aim to find more hard news stories that interest us. Ribbon-cuttings rank lower than the big three – sex, money and death – on our list of priorities. Covering the campus’ happenings is what we’re about, but we can’t do it without some feedback.

You’ll have noticed (of course) that we’ve got a poll question on our front page. Respond! We don’t sit up here night after night thinking of ingenious, thought-provoking questions for our health. Anything you want to know about? Make a suggestion.

Know someone interesting? Your neighbor, professor, lover, friend’s friend or the pasta guy in Umphrey Lee? Tell us! We have lots of eyes and ears, but we want yours, too.

Have a funny story? Have a strong opinion on the outrageous cost of doing a load of laundry in the residence halls? Call! Write! Visit! See a running theme?

Of course, I can’t let this go without doing a bit of recruiting. Working for the newspaper can introduce you to a separate world you might never see without a press pass. Maybe you always thought writing would be fun but were too chicken to try. Well, time isn’t standing still, and testing unexplored waters is what college is for. Our editors are kind, compassionate people (after a few drinks), and we’ll do our damnedest to make a fine writer out of you. A swift kick in the pants can do wonders.

There may be a Pulitzer with your name on it.

Our Web site is up to the minute, just waiting for you to drop a line. The phones work, too, and we’ll respond to your calls – unlike the people in Perkins. So keep reading and let us know what you think. We don’t bite – hard.