J.J. Jenkins

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WOW, that went fast. One day I’m lugging my suitcases up the hill to the Cerro Vista Apartments and the next I’m about to be ushered out of San Luis Obispo with one final toss of a black cap. Though I have nine months left on this campus, I’d trade places with you — yes you, dear WOWies — in a heartbeat.

In these nine months, my goal as editor-in-chief of Mustang Daily is to help make this paper informative, incisive and, most importantly, the place for news about Cal Poly and your new community as a whole. The paper will contain relevant information for you, as a student and as an individual, looking to make San Luis Obispo your new home. In essence, if we aren’t informing you of crucial issues relating to the funding of public education in California or showing you the best events on and off campus each weekend, we aren’t doing our jobs.

And this year, Mustang Daily will be prepared to exceed that expectation. The newspaper has undergone the most transformative change in its 97-year history. By combining our on-campus television and radio stations with Mustang Daily and a new multimedia unit, we have more journalists covering more topics on more platforms than ever before.

The goal is to appeal to our audience — which consumes media in more diverse ways than ever — train reporters and editors for jobs in the changing news industry and, as one professor in the department puts it, serve democracy. By granting readers access to the thoughts and actions of administrators and decision-makers on campus, you can make more informed decisions and develop an informed view of your world.

Mustang Daily also prides itself on being independent from the administration, funding itself through advertisements. We intend to use that freedom to both praise and challenge authority when necessary. By upholding our moral obligation to readers and to democracy, we serve our community better.

There will be bumps in the road and we won’t be perfect from the start. We’ll be running a completely new operation from day one and figuring out how to best serve our readers, listeners and viewers as we go. But as we fine-tune our news gathering operation, we hope to cover issues that inform and intrigue students. Even we can’t do it alone. So if an event piques your interest, shoot us an email at md@mustangdaily.net or message our Facebook page at facebook.com/mustangdaily and let us know what’s happening.

At the end of the day, Mustang Daily is made by students, for students. We accept the opportunities and challenges that come with that designation.

I wish you all the best of luck over the next four (or more) years. It will go much faster than you imagine, so be sure to take time and head to the beach for a day, hike Bishop Peak and find your passion. You picked a tremendous place to attend college, so make the most of it. And if you do, you will be sure to walk away from San Luis Obispo with enormous possibilities in your path.