A new semester begins

As the student newspaper of a Big Ten university, the IDS covers many events and noteworthy issues. But one of the most important things we can do as a newspaper is to listen to you, our readers, and present fair and unbiased stories. This is your newspaper, and I encourage you to use us as a resource and give us feedback. Let us know if you see news happening or if you have an idea for a great story.\nThe IDS began publishing last Wednesday, and we will continue to do so, Monday through Friday, until finals week. Many changes are in store for the IDS this semester, including our redesign, which has its premiere with today's edition. Designers have been hard at work since the summer working on bringing a different look to our readers. Let us know what you think by sending e-mail to letters@indiana.edu.\nThe staff will also tackle coverage of events, issues and trends with weekly profiles and monthly series. The IDS has created an investigations team of seasoned reporters who will be charged with exploring campus and community issues this semester.\nThe IDS Listening Tour will also be back in full force this semester. After a year hiatus, we are again leaving the newsroom to meet with students, administrators, professors, leaders and campus and community groups. This is another opportunity for you to give the IDS feedback about our coverage and offer any type of suggestions or advice. \nFeedback is always solicited through our opinion page. We always accept letters to the editor at letters@indiana.edu. Any questions, comments or story ideas can be told to a staff member by calling the newsroom at (812) 855-0760. Of course, you can always stop by and visit our newsroom in the School of Journalism in Ernie Pyle Hall 120.\nEach night after the IDS print version goes out the door, our Web site, the Indiana Digital Student, is updated. Every morning one can look at the paper on the Web and see the same IDS waiting in newsstands. This fall, the site will undergo some changes. We are in the final stages of placing live updates of football and basketball games on www.idsnews.com. The site will provide additional content than the edition in the newsstands, with more links and full copies of important documents. \nThe IDS, first published Feb. 22, 1867, is an auxiliary unit of the University. We generate about $2 million per year in advertising revenue that allows us to be financially and editorially independent from the University. This student-run operation receives no student activity fee money. \nThe IDS is run solely by students. Students serve as desk editors, reporters, designers, photographers, copy editors and advertising account executives. We devise our own coverage plans and try to cover a broad array of campus and community events and issues. \nLike many of you reading this column, we are students and are plagued by term papers, tests and homework. On average, IDS editors work between 30 and 50 hours per week and into the early morning. The paper must leave the confines of Ernie Pyle Hall and enter our printer's doors shortly after midnight each night.\nI encourage each of you to pick up an IDS, send a letter to the editor or stop by our newsroom to say 'Hi.' Our doors are always open.