From The Editor

One of the best aspects of my job is interacting with student interns. This summer our staff had great fun working with two seniors, both public relations/journalism majors. Rebecca Beteet and Jennifer Russell joined us in June and will continue with us this coming year.

Students bring enthusiasm, energy, possibility and that wonderful question: "Why don't we try ... ?" I love it when people think about what could happen instead of only about what is happening, or worse, what always has happened.

And it was with that question that we spent the summer plumbing the possibility of starting a regular section in Baylor Magazine specifically for students - conceived, created and written by students, for students. We held focus groups and met with student leaders and administrators.

From our standpoint, it's win-win. The section will give students more of a voice in print, and opportunities to beef up personal portfolios. Also, we knew from our online readership survey earlier this year that many of our readers wanted to know more about student life on campus. Plus, as a university magazine, we wanted to try harder to engage students while they're on campus, not just after they leave as proud graduates.

I give Rebecca and Jennifer much credit for driving the creation and implementation of this section. Their enthusiasm for it and hard work to deliver it inspired our entire staff. We helped where we could, but mostly tried not to slow them down.

Welcome to the insider, starting on page 21. No doubt it will continue to evolve in future issues, but we hope you enjoy it. I already have. For instance, I now know what it is to be "poked" on facebook; OK, I now know what facebook is!

Students, let us hear from you. You can contact me in all the usual ways and also log onto our Web site, www.baylormag.com, to send suggestions and comments. Parents and others, let us know what you think of the insider - or anything else in the magazine.

Baylor Magazine is yours. It exists to communicate with and reconnect our readers to their favorite school - as students, alums, donors or friends. And like our interns' willingness to explore possibilities, Baylor Magazine is very much about what could happen in relationships if we don't let ourselves be restrained by the past.

Vicki Marsh Kabat