Summer in Ames is a magical time. Oh, sure, the Campustown BK might close at 8 p.m., and we are all affected by the library’s shortened hours, but Iowa State in the summer still rocks harder than a teen-aged air guitar virtuoso at a Kiss concert.

We at the Daily who are not out and about doing internships or working at high-paying positions at “real-world” newspapers and magazines feel honored and privileged to be here with all of you, providing the ISU community with the rock-solid news, columns and information you need to get through your week.

We will be coming to you on Tuesdays and Thursdays like clockwork, and though we may not be coming out with fresh issues on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the issues we do provide will be all the more packed with rich Daily goodness for your news reading pleasure.

Whether you are stuck in Ames against your will or are purposely sticking around because you like it here in the summer, you should know that you can get as much, if not more, out of these months than during the regular school year.

Campus may look half empty, but it’s really closer to 75 percent empty … of students that is.

The same services you know and love are there for the taking, but the lines are just shorter.

That copy of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” you haven’t been able to get your hands on because some grad student was sitting on it for nine months is back in circulation.

The Union is still open, and now your favorite chair in the Browsing Library is 75 percent less likely to be filled by somebody else.

There is also something to be said for taking an entire semester’s worth of literature courses in a few weeks.

Let’s face it, no one really expects you to read a novel a day for a month; they just want you to put on a good show and the tests will reflect that, too.

The night life in Campustown is also much improved over the summer as well.

The bars along Welch aren’t packed to the brim with eager publicans looking to fill their gullets as fast and cheap as possible. You might actually get a table without showing up before 9.

Those of us who stick around Ames in the summer know the people who stay in Ames for the summer are nearly 75 percent more interesting and intelligent than the people who graduate, work at internships or slob around their parents houses for three months.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Heidi Jolivette, Justin Kendall and Tara Payne.