Dear Pennizens,

The first day of school is upon us.  Drag your sorry, tan ass to class and decide whether it’s worth attending repeatedly.  Nestle into a wooden chair and do a little reading and a squiggly sudoku to pass the time.

You’ve opened up this First Call, and you may wonder: What is First Call?  Or, what is different about this First Call?  Am I in the right room?  What the hell is Maple?  We must admit: First Call was a bit under the weather for awhile.  But this year, we’ve pulled our green head out of the proverbial toilet, sprayed some editorial air freshener around the campus, and are re-affirming our place within Penn’s public discourse.    

And, to get you through your first-day blues, we’ve included articles to tickle, entertain, and challenge your existing beliefs. For the idealist, a call to action to free our culture from its copyrighted shackles; for the cynic, a reality check on Penn promotional materials; for the worldly traveler, a new feature penned by students studying around the world.  Our writers also opine on Wharton’s new cohort system, an operation that promises to take unsuspecting freshmen and expose them to group bonding and free pizza.  The system is a distant mimic of MBA cohort lifestyle, sans grade non-disclosure.  Go turn some pages.

You, the undergrad, are the key to First Call’s vitality and survival. We are open to your submissions, your ideas, your opinions, and your criticism. Our quest for persuasive, original writing from across Penn’s academic programs and disciplines requires an engaged readership. If you’re enrolled in the University, we want your contributions.

We are excited to be your editors this year. Fancy that it’s already been three years since we were freshmen ourselves, traveling in packs of 20 and sniffing out free booze. Before we bury ourselves in a pit of nostalgia, we close this letter and tape the final layer of Back to School wrapping paper on this campus. As you walk down Locust, take a glance into the depths of the smiling sea of stylishly dressed students and think for a little while. After all, your college career is almost as ephemeral as the restaurant strip on Spruce Street.

Looking forward to meet you.

Lauren Saul

Anna Stetsovskaya

Editors-in-Chief