The Daily Wildcat has been a lot of things to a lot of people over the years. Campus watchdog, whistle-blower, historian, packing material, emergency paper towel. No matter how you see it, you can always count on the Daily Wildcat being there for you.

Whether you are a fan or a critic, the Wildcat has been covering the UA campus since 1899. That means the Wildcat was around before almost any sports team on the campus, with the exceptions of football and track. If you want to put it in other terms, the Wildcat has been through two world wars, the Great Depression, a recession, Prohibition and the ’60s, just to name a few landmarks.

Sure, the Wildcat has had its ups and downs over the decades, but it has always been there for you, the campus community, and — for better or worse — it will continue to be here long after you’re gone. Hopefully, you will always stay connected to UA through dailywildcat.com, the online hub for UA news. A little shameless self-promoting never hurt anyone.

In recent years, the Wildcat, like all newspapers, has been falling by the wayside. Whether this is a result of our inability to change with the times or a side-effect of something bigger is inconsequential. What does matter is that I’m here to say, “”To hell with that.”” The Wildcat’s job is too important to let it fade into irrelevance.

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve worked at the Daily Wildcat for two years now, and, until being hired as editor in chief, I never once read our mission statement. So, I’m pretty sure you haven’t either, but you should. Here, I’ll make it easy: “”The mission of the Arizona Daily Wildcat is to be the most accurate, most thorough and most interesting source of news, sports and entertainment for the campus community.”” It’s a lofty goal for a motley group of students. Nearly impossible, some would say, but that’s our job and what we aim to deliver.

Whether you’re a freshman in Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall, or one of the widely unknown groundskeepers that keep our campus green (however they work that magic) it’s our job to be accountable to you, to be entertaining for you and be attentive to your needs. So, that’s what we are going to do. If it’s interesting multimedia you’re looking for, keep an eye out for Daily Wildcat TV this semester on dailywildcat.com. If you want in-depth reporting on UA administration news, turn to our dedicated news staff.  No matter what your particular news needs are, we promise we’ll be here to fill them.

And if you feel we aren’t fulfilling our duty to you as a reader, let us know! I promise we don’t bite.

— Colin Darland is the editor in chief of the Arizona Daily Wildcat. He can be contacted at editor@wildcat.arizona.edu or 621-7579.