Congratulations, you’ve made it to page four of The Pitt News New Student Guide. Only 128 more… Congratulations, you’ve made it to page four of The Pitt News New Student Guide. Only 128 more to go!

It’s a lot of reading, I know. But what you’re holding in your hands, this meager pile of newsprint and paper, may be one of the most helpful compendiums of knowledge you’ll run across this summer.

Long before I became editor in chief at The Pitt News, the summer before Pitt christened me a college student, I read this baby cover to cover. And I learned a lot.

In the pages of the New Student Guide, you’ll read where to find Pittsburgh’s hottest hangouts, who the most influential administrators and student groups are on campus and how to deal with the delicate issues of student life.

Our hardworking news desk, the creative folk from over at A’E, a troop of veteran columnists, our home team of sports buffs and a meticulous group of editors, page designers and business staffers came together to bring you these pages.

Not only did we deliver to you this issue, but we’ll also be the news source throughout your time at Pitt. During the fall and spring, we put out a paper every day, Monday through Friday, and about 14,000 issues fill up newsstands around campus and in the city. This summer, you’ll see a new edition every week on Wednesdays.

About 150 dedicated students sit on our editorial staff and provide our original content, and about 25 students on the business side take care of selling the advertising (more than $1 million worth of it every year) that keeps us an independent, student-run organization.

Impressed? If you’re not, pick up a copy of The Pitt News off the rack on your way to class or surf into www.pittnews.com, our online edition, on a regular basis. You’ll at least have a fresh, clean Sudoku or crossword puzzle to fill out during lectures.

If you don’t like what we’re doing, that’s all the better. Let us know, and we’ll listen! If there’s anything you’d ever like to comment on, any article that really tickles your funny bone or pisses you off, or the fact that we might be missing a comma here or there, give me a call at 412-648-7985. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

You also could send your thoughts on any article we print or any issue we comment on to our lovely Opinions editors at [email protected]. Your words might wind up as a letter to the editor in the Opinions section. Or in the paper shredder – just kidding.

If you like what you see here, we have a better option for you. You should work for us.

We’re always accepting applications for writers in our News, Arts and Entertainment, Opinions and Sports sections, for illustrators, cartoonists and graphic designers in our layout department, for sports and news photographers to bring you the visuals to brighten up articles, and for a Web tech genius to work on our online staff. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert journalist or even have taken a writing course. We’ll teach you everything you need to know, as long as you’re excited and willing to learn.

Once a Pitt News staffer, you can get a head start strengthening your writing skills, you’ll garner sweet clips of your name in print to add to your blossoming resume, and you might even make some friends. Plus, we’ll pay you for your hard work.

That’s right, working for The Pitt News is a real job, and it’s definitely more fun than bagging groceries or flipping burgers.

Stop by our office on the fourth floor of the William Pitt Union to say “Hi” anytime or to pick up an application – our business staff and I are here every day in the summer, and the newsroom buzzes on Tuesday nights with our team of editors hard at work. We’d love to meet you, Class of 2012.

Have a relaxing summer and a fantastic four (or more) years in Oakland.

And always, hail to Pitt!