Welcome to the first-ever Campus Times Blog, the brand-new outlet for student and alumni involvement in the University of Rochester’s oldest student newspaper.

The Campus Times was founded in 1873 and enjoyed a 127-year honeymoon as a print newspaper before breaking through to the Internet in the year 2000, emerging victorious from the wreckage of the late ’90s Dot-Com bubble. Today, the circulation amounts to 5,000 print copies and 8,000 e-mail subscriptions, with untold numbers of additional visitors to www.campustimes.org. The year 2008 marks the CT’s boldest venture yet into the uncertain waters of the Internet, as we follow in the grand tradition of visionaries from Mark Cuban to Tila Tequila by creating a blog.

We are excited about our latest effort to stay relevant and join newspapers nationwide in incorporating 21st century technology. The blog gives the CT the ability to serve the University more frequently and less formally. It is a reason for students to check out the CT Web site more than once a week and get quick but authoritative insights on major campus events as soon as they happen. The Alumni section will provide perspective into life after college and maybe offer career advice from some world-wizened alumni. Eventually, an Editor’s Notebook will give CT editors the opportunity to explain their editorial decisions and respond to criticisms or suggestions from the student body, and after that, the future is wide open.

Most importantly, this blog is an opportunity for UR students and alumni to get involved with the newspaper and ensure its continued success and relevance. Want to voice your idea for the best possible Dining plan? Have a response to the actions of the administration or Student Government, or the United States government, for that matter? Yearn for a venue to share your discovery of Rochester’s next great restaurant the rest of campus? This is the place to speak out in front of your peers and the whole UR community on subjects that matter to you, both campus-related and nationally focused.

So don’t be shy, get involved. E-mail editor@campustimes.org if you want to write, or stop by and visit us at Wilson Commons 102.

Sincerely,
Ben Wrobel
Editor-in-Chief