Oh, hello! I didn’t see you come in. My vision was somewhat obscured from the several feet of snow we received over break.

I hope your holiday season was warm and fuzzy, surrounded by loving friends and family, because it’s January now, and we as college students are coming back to our harsh and unforgiving mistress, Iowa State University.

Yes, it’s school time once again kiddies, and I hope you’re prepared, because as Bob Dylan once sang, “Oh the times, they are a-changin’.”

On our list of “Things To Be Terrified Of,” we’ve got surcharges, budget cuts and renovations, oh my!

What, you didn’t know about those things? Well as much as I love my Opinion page, I’d like to direct you to the News section of this paper, where you can inform yourself about the world going on around you.

It might seem boring without pundits and name-calling, but news is vital to us, and to you. Make sure to read up on the issues and keep yourself knowledgeable.

The nice part is that doing so has never been easier, and things are only going to improve from here on. We at the Iowa State Daily — and thus, the Opinion section — are working to move our operations more and more online, where you can read up on stories at your leisure, comment to leave feedback, interact with other users, follow your favorite writers and columnists, view slide shows and videos from our shoots or submit your own and more.

We’ve got our own Web site, www.iowastatedaily.net, we have Facebook fan pages, we have Twitter feeds and we’ve got blogs. In short, we’re hip to the jive. We can dig what today’s kids are layin’ down, Daddy-O. And we’re ready to surf the ‘net — that kooky series of tubes that connects us — because that’s what we like to call “the world of tomorrow.”

In all seriousness, we welcome you enthusiastically to the new year and the new semester. We believe we can entertain you as well as challenge and inform, and with a fresh semester comes a fresh start for everyone.

Let’s get this started.

– Sophie Prell is the Opinion Editor of the Iowa State Daily, and a senior in journalism and mass communication from Alta, Iowa.