“Isn't having a letter from the editor on the first page of your magazine self-indulgent?”
This was the question I was posed last month by a fellow editor at a peer publication. And the answer is yes, of course it is. Why should I have a guaranteed 325-word spot at the front of the book (that is, the first few pages of this publication, in magazine-speak)? I guess the official reason is to introduce you, dear readers, to this issue’s offerings and provide you with some quippy musings that straddle the fine line between entertaining and navel-gazing.
But this week I will use this letter to brag on my staff, those 26 impressive people on the masthead who bring you pages and pages of witticisms week after week. This is especially timely given that last week we celebrated our achievements at the annual Daily Pennsylvanian banquet, in which open bar + staffers used to 40-hour workweeks in a windowless office = hilarity.
Though the highlights (and lowlights) of Amy Gutmann’s speech can be found in the Roundup (see pg. 3 of Hillary Reinsberg’s Most Improved Section of the Year-winning Highbrow), the speech that warmed our hearts most was that of our fabulous Executive Editor, Juliette Mullin. Juliette expounded on the accomplishments of our blog, Under the Button, while we grinned from ear to ear.
And that wasn’t the end of Street’s accolades! No, no. Our esteemed film editor Julie Steinberg won the Michael Silver Writing Award for her New York Times-scooping piece on vampires in pop culture (check out what she and fellow Street Section of the Year winner Jess Spiegelman cooked up this week on pg. 8), and Street copy editor Darina Shtrakhman took home General Assignment Reporter of the Year. And guess who’s back for round two? Street Editor of the Year and design queen extraordinaire, Sarah Beth McKay.
That is to say, this semester’s staff has been deemed “All-Star Street.” So, sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of their labors.
O Canada, Julia
