New IDS staffers prepare

So it begins. Another semester at the IDS is already dancing in the minds of editors who've earned positions on the Spring 2002 staff. Wednesday and Thursday evenings, they will shadow current editors and learn traditions as old as Ernie Pyle's desk hulking in a corner of the newsroom -- or at least its legend. Judging by the light in their eyes during editor interviews, this group will bring fresh vigor to their jobs, too. \nAs the student management staff and I chose to hire each applicant, I couldn't help get nostalgic over all I learned as a desk editor at the paper. The public embarrassment of mistakes, the privilege of seeing reporters iron clumsy copy into flowing prose over the course of a semester. \nPhotographers, reporters, copy editors, page and Web designers are just as vital. All are part of a momentous process of persistence, creativity, verification, checking and double-checking to get the paper out the door by midnight. \nAnd this isn't something any of us do for the money. Initially, that was true because the pay would buy room at People's Park and board at McDonald's. But now we work mostly because the IDS is where we learn to love this profession. Whether they agree with what we print or not, readers glean knowledge, gain insight and find humor from what we do. I always get a kick out of that. \nNo one can predict what news will break next semester, but I know riders will pedal their hearts out at Little 500, and the world will continue to look a little different through the eyes that saw the World Trade Center towers crumble. We hope to capture dimensions of these in words and pictures. \nCertainly the state and University budget and new alcohol and athletic academic polices will occupy our minds and pages. These issues stand to impact the money in your wallet, the bottles in your fridge and the quality of your diploma. The duty of raising the most important questions and fleshing out these issues will not be taken lightly. \nAll I can do is hope that we work as a team to bring you the news in a balanced, accurate and interesting fashion. I will do my best to see that we reflect your voice and uncover the quirkiness that makes IU fascinating. \nNext semester poses a particular challenge. The Indianapolis Star and Bloomington Herald-Times will be distributed free to students on a trial basis. That means myself and my colleagues at the IDS have to strive harder to keep our place in more than 90 percent of your hands. It means we'll have to be smarter, funnier, more accurate and insightful than ever before. \nI approach this position at a time that esteem for journalists is rising. Media performance was ranked as excellent or good by 89 percent of people surveyed by the Pew Research Center in mid-September. The IDS will continue to view its code of ethics as a bottom line. The bar will be set high next semester as we uphold the public trust.\nThe ironic thing about the IDS is that it's a learning experience with real world consequences. We're accountable to the same standards as a professional paper on legal and ethical grounds. When we make a mistake you all see it. I accept that we will make our share of mistakes next semester, but we'll also make you smile. And by all means, we'll make you think, too.