Here we are again, ready for another year of school.

Some of you are new to Iowa State; others of you are back for more, maybe your fifth or sixth year.

In any case, welcome to the 1999-2000 edition of the Iowa State Daily.

We here at the Daily have spent quite awhile getting ready for the first issue, which you now hold in your hands.

I spent the whole summer preparing for my year as editor in chief. I interned this summer at The Des Moines Register, where I learned all sorts of useful information about putting together a newspaper.

I learned that you can’t please everybody, and sometimes you can’t please anybody at all.

I learned that you can’t ever give up, and you can’t let yourself get away with anything less than your best.

And I learned that you can never make your editor happy. (After editing a story for my editor, and not doing a very good job, he told me that he could probably get me a paper route if I wanted to stay in the newspaper business.)

The things I learned this summer at the Register put me in the mood for sharing other tidbits of information I learned, during one particularly informative weekend in August. Not all of the things I learned were positive. But all of them were helpful, so here they are.

1. Never speed in small towns.

My sister and I were on our way to Ames about three weeks ago. We were coming up to check on my house because there had been a big storm here the night before and I wanted to see if there was any damage.

Instead of taking the interstate up, I decided it would be nice to take the back roads over Saylorville Lake and come in on the west side of Ames.

Unfortunately, I forgot about The Polk City Cop.

I was cruising into Polk City, which is just north of the lake, and slowing for a stop sign at the bottom of the big hill into town. Apparently I didn’t slow fast enough, because there was a cop parked at the bottom of the hill, with his radar detector pointed back, waiting for silly drivers like me.

The friendly officer said I was going 40 in a 25, and he wrote the ticket for exactly that much. I didn’t get too upset about it, because I figured that for all I speed, I deserve a ticket every once in a while.

But the cop made my night after he had written the ticket. He looked at me straight in the face and, without laughing, admonished me to be on the lookout for other drivers who “aren’t too sober” at that time of night.

He was wasn’t pulling them over, mind you, but he was kind enough to warn me about them.

2. Unplug appliances when you leave for the summer.

After my run-in with the Polk City Police Department, I thought I wouldn’t deal with any more officers for a while. But then, only 20 minutes later, I met two officers from the Ames PD.

When my sister and I finally arrived at my house and pulled in the driveway, we were surprised to find the door standing wide open.

Both of my roommates were out of the state for the summer, and no one else besides our landlords should have been in the house. I remembered locking the door when I left the last time, so I was a little frightened.

I called the Ames Police Department, because I had just seen “The Blair Witch Project” and I wasn’t taking any chances.

Within a matter of minutes, two young officers, one of whom was in a class of mine last semester, arrived at my house. They drew their guns and walked through the open door, just like a scene from “NYPD Blue.”

They didn’t find anyone, and nothing had been taken, but the phones and TV weren’t working. The officers determined that a fuse blew out during the storm and fried my TV and answering machine, both of which I had left plugged in. (My roommates had unplugged all of their belongings, so their stuff is all fine.)

I’m still not sure who left the door of my house open, but at least the cops were nice to me.

3. Never speed in small towns — no, really.

I’m a slow learner.

The following morning, less than 12 hours after my first encounter with law enforcement, I was on my way to Okoboji to cover a story for the Register. I missed a turn and ended up in Ogden, and while trying to figure out how to get out of Ogden, I wasn’t paying attention to the speed limit.

It was 20. I was going 39.

That’s what the cop said, anyway. He was very nice, though, and only gave me a ticket for going 30 in a 20.

4. Make sure you’re carrying your insurance with you at all times.

The first time I got pulled over, my insurance card had expired six days earlier and I had forgotten to put the new card in my car.

The second time I got pulled over, I was driving a company car, and I couldn’t for the life of me find the insurance card. I started crying — real, genuine tears, not just because I didn’t want a ticket — because I couldn’t believe it was happening again.

Neither cop cited me for the insurance violation, thank goodness. My checkbook was having a hard enough time as it was, with a $41 ticket, a $54 ticket and about $200 anticipated in TV repairs.

Yep, my summer was pretty exciting. But I’m sure it was only half as interesting as this school year will be.

So, enjoy your first week of classes, and stay the heck out of Polk City.

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Sara Ziegler is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Sioux Falls, S.D. She is editor in chief of the Daily.