Dearest Penn students,

It’s been a while since we last spoke – we’ve missed you. How’ve you been? Thaaaaat’s great.

We’re doing quite well over here at First Call. Our vacations were sunny, our YouTubes were funny, and (thank the Lord above) Jack Bauer is back on TV.

We’ve also been gearing up for our new-and-improved 2007 edition of First Call. First, we’ve got some changes in our editorial staff. (They say hi.) We’ve also reintroduced columnists to the magazine, so get ready to ogle at the gorgeous faces and witty titles of our regular writers. And we’ve revamped our “Overheards” section, because we enjoy eavesdropping on our peers and publicly displaying their hilarity and embarrassments in the pages of our publication.

As the new editor-in-chief, I thought I should be candid with you about my goals and hopes for the magazine this year. By the end of 2007, I intend to make First Call the number one publication on Earth. People will flock to us by the droves, and not for our star power, though Justin Timberlake reads us too. The president himself will peruse our pages – once he learns how. We will also be coming out with a television series and a major motion picture, “First Call in a Box.” It’ll be rated NC-17: we’re just too crazy for the kids to handle.  Lastly, we will cure cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and genital herpes. If you have oral herpes, too bad. Next time, get your own straw.

I know what you’re thinking – a bit ambitious for a lowly college publication. I mean, who do we think we are, the almighty DP? Heaven forbid. We could never compete with their bright colors and great big pages. The way I see it, though, we are already Penn’s only bi-weekly magazine, and the only place for students to speak their minds on a regular basis with ease, consistency, and freedom from the bureaucratic pish-poshery of the other publications we’ve seen around. We are also the only magazine with a kick-ass mascot like Colin. Actually, we’re the only ones with any mascot at all. I’d say that indicates we’re out to do great things.

Know that you hold in your hands the beginnings of a revolution. In these pages, you will find our ideas, our opinions, our rants, our artwork, our stories, our anger, and our sexy selves. We give these to you in the hopes that you will read a little, laugh a little, cry a little, and maybe even learn something new. Or maybe you’ll just be like, “Sweet. A crossword that’s funny.” Either way, we’ll do our best to inform and entertain.

Here’s to a great year…enjoy!

Yours Truly,

Shira Bender

Editor-in-Chief