Hello and welcome. This is the New Student Guide, put together by the staff of The Pitt News… Hello and welcome. This is the New Student Guide, put together by the staff of The Pitt News for you, the new students. It includes a whole heap of information we thought you might find useful, on everything from what to eat to where to go, so hang on to this.

In case you were wondering, The Pitt News is the University’s financially and editorially independent student newspaper. Our editorial side is comprised of about 100 undergrads, and the business staff includes about 25 more. During the fall and spring semesters, the paper comes out daily, Monday through Friday, and in the summer it’s out on Wednesdays. Oh, and the cool part for you is that it’s free.

I’m Jess, The Pitt News’ editor in chief, and I decided to kick off this advice-fest with a few tips of my own.

Ask for help.

Whether it’s asking a favor of a friend, calling your mom about what kind of cold medicine to take, going to a TA with questions before a test or checking with Telefact about which bus goes to the Waterfront, you can save yourself tons of frustration by just asking. And you’ll save the people around you all the frustration of watching you struggle when everything could be so much easier if you’d just let someone help. Pitt has all sorts of services designed to make your life easier: Student Health, Telefact, the Counseling Center, Finals Survival, Career Services, ResNet, etc. Use them. And use this guide; we put it together to help you.

Get excited.

This isn’t high school, so you don’t have to be so apathetic anymore. I was never much for school spirit, politics or sports, but I’ve learned in the last couple of years that it’s a lot of fun to support a presidential candidate, college athlete or professional sports team — especially in Pittsburgh. So wear blue and gold, or black and yellow, or whatever, but have fun.

Do something.

Sure, you’ll be busy with studying and partying, but there are still so many other rewarding things to do with your time. Joining student organizations is a great way to meet people you wouldn’t necessarily encounter in the dorms or your classes, and it gives you something to put on a resume. You could go Greek, sing a cappella, run for student government, volunteer, play Ultimate Frisbee, dance, be a Pathfinder … Or better yet, come work at The Pitt News.

We’re always looking for new writers, photographers, writers, designers, copy editors, ad reps, writers, cartoonists, Web guys, and, oh yeah, writers. We send people all over the country to cover everything from elections to football games to Groundhog Day. Our A’E writers get to review movies, albums, plays, restaurants, books and art exhibits. Columnists earn minor celebrity status and let their opinions be known. And did I mention that we pay? So stop by our office — 434 William Pitt Union — and pick up an application.

Or if you don’t feel like working for us, we hope you’ll at least keep reading. And let us know what you think. Visit our Web site at www.pittnews.com, e-mail me at [email protected], call me at (412) 648-7985, or come by our office.

Congratulations on getting here, best of luck with what the next few years bring, and welcome to Pitt!