In introducing incoming freshmen to the Opinions pages of the Alligator, we have to temporarily revert (at least mentally) to what it was like to move to Gainesville. The only guideline we have to go on for the inaugural editorial is something freshmen would like.
In the past, this section of the New Student Edition has served as a welcome wagon of sorts, or, put another way, a set of laurels for your high school accomplishments with a plug to read the Alligator at the end (plug taken care of, mission accomplished-Darts & Laurels runs here every Friday).
Unfortunately, though, it's difficult to write something that 6,000 diverse, intelligent, talented and eager young adults would unanimously like.
There are some of you who will rush to college to join a fraternity or sorority, and there are some of you who wouldn't step foot inside a frat house for all the Natty Ice in the world. Hell, there are even some of you who don't know what "Natty Ice" is yet. (Don't worry, you will learn.)
But that's certainly not all you'll become acquainted with when you attend college in Gainesville. Besides the plethora of fine dining (substituting Leo's for Pizza Hut is akin to eating at the T.G.I. Friday's in Times Square, FYI), you'll be meeting an entirely new cast of characters. We're not just referring to the social feeding frenzy that will occur in your first semester, although that can be a pretty big deal. You'll also come across a whole new slew of people to adore and despise through this very publication.
After all, that's what pages 6 and 7 of the Alligator are about.
There are figures in Gainesville who you should care about other than Tim Tebow (although we'll be the first to admit that Tebow is a superhuman who could plow through the entire supply of New Student Editions using the raw power of his tree trunk-esque neck alone). With that sentiment in mind, we promise to acquaint you with all of them. And if we think a national news story would be relevant and interesting to you, you can read about it here as well.
But back to you. Some of you will crusade for local causes, some of you will crusade for Christ (this is not an invocation of the historical event, it's a reference to an on-campus organization) and some of you will crusade nightly to a bibliophile's Mecca, known around these parts as Library West.
We're not trying to belabor the diversity theme, but it leads us to our point: Instead of us trying to figure out what you like, why don't you tell us?
The Alligator is your forum as much as it is ours. Something you'd like to have covered? Hit us up. Got something you need to get off your chest? We welcome columns and letters.
We wouldn't dream of being able to accurately reflect each and every one of you without your help. So, send away (since you got into college, we assume that you are capable of crafting a body of 250 coherent words-feel free to take this as a challenge).
As we said before, these pages are about you as much as they are about us. And we like that.
