Dear reader, I have a confession. I really dislike Nicole Ritchie. For that matter, I don’t really like Paris Hilton. However, I still watched “The Simple Life,” feeling much more worldly than the two millionaires.

I also watched “The Bachelorette” and “Joe Millionaire.” I kind of liked Britney’s “Toxic.” I don’t really know much about how some random indie band’s drummer broke off and made his own two-person band that is “breaking barriers” by playing the mellophone.

I may not like everything you’re going to find in the entertainment magazine of your choice, but I’m not going to say I don’t secretly love some reality shows and mass produced pop music. And I know you do, too.

It’s been said this section does nothing for the pop music lovers or others of the mainstream kind. We’ve lost readers because we’ve been writing about what we like, not what our readers like. We’re going to change that.

As the new arts and entertainment editor, I want to promise you one thing: This section is going to be for you, not me, elitists, indie kids, emo kids or any one group of people in particular. From now on, or at least for the rest of this semester, this section is going to be about what the students, faculty and staff of Iowa State read, watch, eat and do.

There is a difference between the commonly heard gripes of readers, meaning “The Daily’s arts section is totally elitist and doesn’t ever write about stuff I care about,” and giving options. Options means a mix of stuff you do care about and stuff I think you will care about.

The changes I am going to make might not be groundbreaking, but you’ll like it. Stories will be shorter, topics will be more accessible and it’s not going to be just music and movies anymore. There’s so much more to the Ames community and more interests than we’ve had in the section previously. There’s going to be more for you to look at, and it will look better.

I want to bring some shiny new things to this section and keep the old ones that have not rusted. However, it won’t be a living section with gardening tips. We’re young, and entertainment will beat weed-pulling and fertilizer any day.

Keep your eyes peeled in the next couple of weeks for changes, and tell me if you hate them. I want to know what you think, so keep the sniveling off StrangeTalk and direct it to my e-mail box. Send e-mail to: [email protected] or call us to yell or praise at 294-5480.

That is my promise. It may not be a revolution, but it’s a change, one with you in mind.