Dear readers,
Happy October! It feels like so much yet so little time has passed since our last print edition. With our first edition behind us, we’ve started to find a rhythm, and this issue is full of reporting, designs and photography our staff worked so hard to complete.
As we look through the stories included in this edition, one thing stands out to us: community.
Community matters to us because the people in these stories are not just sources or headlines. They are the people we go to school with, see at the bars on Thursday nights and share San Luis Obispo with. Their experiences make these stories real, and we are grateful to those who take the time to speak with our reporters and trust us to tell their stories.
Community shows up in this edition in ways that are loud, familiar, complicated and sometimes unexpected. It can be found in the joy and connection of the Central Coast drag scene, in the small late-night traditions that become part of student life and in the uncertainty students face about Cal Poly’s future. Each story asks what makes people feel connected to a place and each other.
As we reach week 10 — which, if we were still on the quarter system, would mean finals and a good old-fashioned lock in — we know firsthand how tiring it is to keep up with the news. College is already a lot with classes, extracurriculars and maintaining a social life. With everything from astronauts to AI Day, we understand reading the news can be one more thing to add to your to-do list. But the news stops for no one. We appreciate you taking the time out of your day to stay in touch with your community.
We hope you enjoy reading this print edition just as much as we enjoyed crafting it, and we hope you see a little of your own community in its pages. Thank you for being a part of ours.
Sincerely,
Kaylin O’Connell, Editor-in-Chief
Lauren Quijano, Managing Editor
For more stories from the October print edition, check out the featured print section on our website.
To submit a Letter to the Editor, email editorial@mustangmediagroup.com. Please make the subject line [Letter to Editor, Topic — First name/Last name]. We require all letters to the editor to be signed with a name.