Under my hat

Naturally, a new year brings changes. We took some time over the break to re-evaluate what we do here and how we present ourselves in order to make sure that it's our voices that come through every week.

With that, we're shedding some layers. You'll notice that this semester we've moved away from satirical captions. It was an initiative that began a couple of years ago when a more sardonic group of folks ran the Advocate.

We love and appreciate what they did, but we've got our own style. We'll still keep you laughing though. Dan Alvarez bugged me all winter break about re-modeling the Backend section. and as a result, we've got a pop-culture commentary for your enjoyment (see page 18).

Additionally, we're letting you inside our office with the feature "Out Of Context," which showcases bizarre quotes from our staff pulled completely out of context. We say some weird shit. Have a laugh (page 19).

We've also made some more minor changes to the paper. For my fellow design geeks—try to figure out which font we've changed this semester. Page four will occasionally have a new megaphone graphic. Kait McNamee, after an entire semester complaining, has a new illustration over her column, "The Static"—which this week talks about being a band girlfriend, give it a read.

Next up, we're going to do something that the Advocate, admittedly, hasn't been the best at in my years here—reaching out to you folks more actively. I'm thankful for our readership, it's actively growing and we want to engage you as much as possible.

We're going to get out of our ill-lit, but awesomely decorated, office and say hello to the students. We're not the cynical, journalists looking to make mountains out of molehills. We like to write, entertain, have fun, and deliver the news.

Look for the Advocate's flag on campus in the upcoming weeks for contests, an open house, and maybe even a dance party.

The Advocate is an alternative weekly. We aim for edginess and snark. We like odd, niche, stories. And occasionally, we like to ruffle some feathers.