The 2002 Managing Board's final issue of the 'Prince'

With this issue, the 2002 Managing Board of The Daily Princetonian completes its tenure at the helm of the 'Prince.' It has been a year of big stories, on campus and off — the new financial aid package, the resignation of one president and the installation of another, terrorist attacks, war in Asia. I am proud of the job we did in recording those events, and all the others throughout the year, for the University community and its posterity.

We leave the 'Prince' in the capable and eager hands of Bill Beaver '03 and the 2003 Managing Board. I have every confidence that they will add an excellent 126th volume to our history.

When, on February 4, 2001, we began work on Volume CXXV, we assumed the burden of our predecessors — defining a role for a college newspaper on a changing campus, serving a diverse body of students, faculty and staff. College papers can always look to the big boys for guidance, but in a tough spot, The New York Times and The Washington Post are often not a relevant role model. So on campuses everywhere, each year a group of amateurs must learn by doing how to put out a newspaper.

We have done some things exceptionally well. Our coverage of important events has been aggressive. The angles of our news stories have been balanced. We have successfully separated our editorial content from the objectivity of the front page. And we have brought stories to our readers that they would not see anywhere else.

But there are things we could do better. It is a task to uncover stories that people want hidden — we could dig harder and deeper in our reporting. Our staff, like those in newsrooms across the country, could better represent our readership's diversity.

In the end, producing this newspaper is a service to our community, and our greatest goal is to be worthy of the University we call home. After a year of long days, late nights, and producing 136 issues of a newspaper, we welcome the chance for some rest. But through this engagement with the community, through this dedication, our attachment to the University has become only more personal, more intimate and more strong. If Princeton can say that for all those who contribute their time to its service, the University will be in good standing for years to come.

In his closing remarks, in February 1901, 25th Editor-in-Chief Walter Ewing Hope wrote that in our work, we are only factors in the University's development. "We are here for a limited time," he said, "while she moves onward continually from year to year, and if within that limited period one is privileged to contribute his mite to her progress, he may rest supremely satisfied." It is with this hope, that our work on the paper may have been worthy of this University, that the 2002 Board relinquishes its control. — Daniel Stephens '02 125th Editor-in-Chief