The leaves are beginning to turn from a vibrant green to a crimson red, campus is once again buzzing with life and many students have just made the grand switch from living at home to setting off on their college experience.

As these transformations take place all around you, The Daily Barometer is making substantial changes as well.

For those that have experienced the Barometer in its previous form, the issue in your hands may be a bit surprising.

In addition to a new size and look, this year we are also switching from a daily to a weekly publication. This means that a new issue will hit stands every Monday from here on out, rather than every weekday as was the case before.

Worry not, though! We are not straying away from our coverage of campus and community news, events and stories. We are simply reframing the way in which we present these to you, our audience.

People engage with our publication in a variety of different ways, and more and more so our audience engages through the internet. This is not surprising. In fact, this is the trend with college media has a whole, and media in general for that matter.

As a result of our increased push to collaborate more with the rest of Orange Media Network, a new web and mobile department has been created at OMN in efforts to expand our online content and ability to cover stories in multiple ways.

Because of this you will find new content online everyday. Be on the lookout for the daily OMN newsletter “The Juice” and our daily News Blast videos. Our daily news cycle continues to exist, and it is growing still.

The switch to a weekly publication now allows us the opportunity to develop and cover stories that require time and resources our daily cycle did not allow. Our print stories are going to go deeper than before and are going to address topics that require a more complete understanding.

With this switch though we also have the monumental ability to shift the content in our paper to better reflect our mission to truly be the voice of the entire community, and not just select parts.

We have the power to encapsulate and amplify the voices of our community. It is our responsibility to ensure that through our coverage, or lack thereof, we are not silencing those already marginalized individuals or groups around us.

Throughout the year you will encounter material in the Baro that is controversial and may make you uncomfortable. That is our intention. Approach this uneasiness with a willingness to engage in conversation and dialogue. Learn from those around you. Take from the experiences and narratives of individuals whose perspective differs from yours, and use them to grow.

The Oregon State University community is one that I hold dear, and my dedication to this publication stems from my desire to continuously improve the lives of those around me. I have been given the honor of overseeing a platform that can be used to do a multitude of wonderful and constructive feats, and that is what I intend to do.

However, we will without doubt falter and even fail at times over the coming year, but I can promise that we will use these experiences to reflect and improve. Hold us accountable. If you see something you don’t like, let us know. If you don’t agree with our coverage of a certain subject or event, tell us why. Don’t sit idly by.

Your voice matters, and we will ensure you are heard.

Let’s start these discussions and use them to progress to a better point in which the Baro can serve the entire community accurately, fairly and appropriately.

We have chosen the first issue of the new Baro to focus around the theme of community, and have done so through the “I am OSU” project. In addition to what you can read in the printed issue of the Baro, there is additional content exclusively available online.

We encourage you to join in the conversation by using #IAmOSU on social media and sharing what it is that makes you a part of the OSU community.

I look forward to this year. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Riley Youngman

Editor-in-Chief