Staff Editorial: From where we stood

Producing a daily newspaper is hard. It takes a Herculean effort on the part of each and every person involved in this endeavor, from our advertising representatives to our beat reporters to our photographers and final editors, to make The Daily Pennsylvanian a reality each weekday morning. It's an effort that often goes unnoticed, but over the last 123 issues -- and all of the sleepless nights and missed classes that went with them -- we have given our all to this institution. And tomorrow night, the 118th Board of Editors and Managers will hand the reins to 27 enthusiastic and eminently capable successors -- the 119th Board -- to continue the DP's proud legacy of excellence. We are proud of our accomplishments, of our second consecutive Pacemaker Award, honoring the DP as one of the nation's best college newspapers, and of the work we've done covering the issues that matter to this community. Through it all, we have been guided by the twin mission of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc.: to teach our staff members to be effective and ethical businesspeople and reporters, and, above all, to live up to the highest standards of the journalistic profession in print. As Penn's primary source for campus and city news, we've done our best to bring our readers what they need to be active and informed members of the University community -- from the governor's race and the opening of Huntsman Hall to "pseudo-Greek" affairs and crime. It is a responsibility we did not shoulder lightly in an environment where important information is often less than forthcoming. We worked at providing a fair, complete and accurate portrayal, and though we have not always succeeded, please be assured that we came to 4015 Walnut Street every day with only the best of intentions. And as the 118th prepares to sign off, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to our dedicated professional staff, reporters, business staffers, photographers, artists, designers, Web staff and everyone who makes this remarkable newspaper possible. To the 119th we wish the best of luck and a successful year. In our year on the masthead, we've learned much about the values of friendship, of hard work and of journalism. We are confident that their experience will be as fulfilling. In closing, we offer our sincerest thanks to our readers and the community we've strived to serve. Our toils are meaningless without an intelligent, informed audience, and it has been a pleasure to serve you. Hope you folks enjoyed yourselves. Catch you further on down the trail.

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