Divorced from the rhythms of academia, it is easy to forget that this is the busiest time of the year for the Cavalier Daily staff. Thick registration issues need to be produced, first-year students need to be recruited to perpetuate and reinvigorate the organization, and inaugural issues of the regular school year need to be put together.

Of course, all of this occurs in the backdrop of seeing friends for the first time in months and setting up one’s own personal living arrangements for the next year. Long nights of work invariably lead to gatherings of friends into the wee hours of the morning, which invariably lead to fondly remembered and oft repeated stories. Which I will spare you.

Instead, I’d like to take the time to thank all of you in advance for reading and responding to a fund-raising letter the Cavalier Daily Alumni Association recently sent out. Hopefully it will rekindle some of the same feelings of fondness for The Cavalier Daily that I experience while thinking back about the frenetic first days of the academic year. While I am sure that the CDAA’s letter is but one of many calls for your money, let me assure you that your help will make a real difference.

For example, the CDAA is in the initial stages of providing scholarships to deserving Cavalier Daily staffers for journalism-related summer jobs. Those we have offered in the past few years have compellingly shown that this form of help has the potential to make a big impact. While scholarships free promising staffers who cannot otherwise afford to take an unpaid position from a summer of mindless drudgery, it also provides an important multiplying effect as the skills and attitudes learned are passed on to fellow staffers.

As always, the CDAA also will sponsor alumni gatherings and social activities in an effort to create a vibrant network of CD alumni. Our events at the University’s Reunion Weekend were a success, and they will provide a useful model to improve future events. I expect a great turnout for our annual brunch during Homecoming Weekend (See Events Committee page), and look forward to seeing many of you there.