Welcome to Columbia. Would you care for some cynicism?

For several reasons, Orientation issue is among my favorites of the year. This is our chance to form a first impression, to show that Spectator is a useful resource, focused on and and an irreplaceable tool for students. While we have to retain our reporterly neutrality, we also can get away with being a little bit hopeful. Further, the issue serves as one of our best recruitment tools, (hopefully) showing students and their parents that we are able to put out a professional-feeling product that might look good later on a resume.

The interesting thing about Spec is that, in many cases, Spec staffers don't actually like Columbia and Barnard. There are a number of factors that contribute to this: Reporting requires a high level of skepticism and cynicism; we get a closer view than most of the not always pretty process of how the sausage that runs the University gets made; and many top editors end up spending so much time on the paper that academics takes a backseat to it. Thus, when it comes down to it, the office often exudes a negative attitude towards the school that we are all paying so much money to attend.

And that's the real reason that I love the Orientation issue. As somebody who has had incredible experiences as a result of coming to this school I wear my school spirit on my sleeve. No, the University isn't perfect, but I love it here, and I love getting others excited about wearing the Columbia blue.

We'll get back to digging deeper and exploring what goes wrong next week. And, yeah, even here we deliver some honest criticism of the school. (See: Melissa's "This Wasn't in the Brochure" or my "official" guide to NSOP.) But for this one issue before classes start, as encapsulated by the annual list of 116 Columbia traditions or the front cover, we have a chance to look back over our times here and show our appreciation for the school.

Go Lions!

Josh