We’re Ba-aaack!

ello, and wel- | come to the X-Press.

My name is Sean McQuaid, and I'll be your editor this year (why does this sound like | shouldbe wear- ing a tuxedo and handing you a wine list?) Being a glutton for punishment I’m putting in my fourth year at the paper and my second year as

The X-Press is back to inform and entertain you.

Volunteer, write us letters, show us how much you care!

Do you want a weekly schedule? Do you like the cur- rent name of the paper (past names include the Red & White, the Sun, the Cadre, the Netted Gem, the Gem, and Panther Magazine) or would you pre- fer an old or com- pletely new title? What kinds of fea- tures do you want

ringmaster of this lit-

erary circus, so you long-time readers will have to endure my alleged insights in this space for yet another eight months or so. For you new readers (especially freshmen and other recent arrivals on this planet we call UPEI) | should take amoment to explain what you're staring at. The UPEI X-Press is, as you may have surmised, the UPEI student newspaper, funded and produced by students for the university community. We cover local new and current events on and off campus, as well as stories ranging from provin- cial to global venues. We also produce enter- tainment features such as arts reviews, car- toons, fiction, poetry, and more. The X-Press is here to inform and entertain UPEI students and give those students a forum for their own ideas and concerns.

Okay. Now that we’ve all been properly introduced, | thought I'd use this opening edito- rial’s space to tell everybody about some of the stuff in the works for the year. First of ali, as always, WE WANT VOLUNTEERS! No expe- rience is necessary (though it can’t hurt), and we're always looking for more writers and support staff (for the thrilling details on joining up, see “The Student Press Experience” else- where in this issue). That having been said, there willbe afew changes this year. For one thing, our current schedule calls for ten rather than twelve issues per semester, roughly three per month (for more details on that, see our new schedule to be printed in the next issue). We're also contemplating format changes yet again, for the moment just some minor layout alterations, but we're discussing major changes for either next semester or next year, including: a possible switch to newspaper-style tabloid format (much cheaper to produce and much bigger, but we'll have to work some bugs out of production to do it), and the return to weekly production (almost a given if we switch formats).

Whatever we do, let us know what you think. Do you prefer stapled newsmagazine format (almost twice as costly) or tabloid style?

to see? You can sat- isfy our curiosity and speak your mind by writing to us. We welcome your letters, and while we can’t please everybody we take all suggestions into consideration. Let us and the rest of the university know what you think, not just about the paper, but about any issues of interest to students. After all, a letters page is a terrible thing to waste.

Turning to other business, we’re working on a policy for the criteria regarding what submis- sions we print other than articles and creative material (announcements, notices, meetings, etc.). This is in response to ongoing complaints and rumours among student groups regarding our submissions policy, and for more informa- tion on that check out this issue’s special announcement (under the musical title “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”). Also on the drawing board are plans for drafting an X- Press constitution and incorporating the paper as a semi-autonomous body under a board of governors drawn from our ranks and those of the student government and students at large. It’s shaping up to be an exciting and productive year, and | invite all of you to join us for the ride whether it be as readers or volunteers (or both!). With your support, we hope to make this the best student newspaper UPEI has ever seen.

Sean McQuaid Editor-in-Chief.

P.S. Oodles of thanks to a variety of people including the staff (Kirby, Todd, Stan, Rebecca and Kathy are the sharpest bunch to producean issue in some time), the volunteers (Carol, Trent, Robby, and the others without whom: this miracle is impossible), Wendy in Central Printing for her invaluable assistance, our aston- ishingly conscientious S.U. liaison Andrew MacPherson, and the other helpful folks at S.U. such as Todd, Betty, Heather, Michelle, and all the rest. Here’s looking at you, kids.

Got a gripe? Know something we don"t? Dying to share your wisdom with the world? Write us a letter.

Sunday ‘Sept. 19, 1993

September 9, 1993/X-Press/3