And we’re back.

MIMI ENSLEY

Actually, up on Baxter Hill at the Red & Black office, we’ve been back for nearly a week, planning and working and getting caught up to produce this issue for you.

Don’t you feel special?

You should.

See, the other editors and I want to get to know you. After all, our readers are the reason we stay in business.

So what campus issues do you care about? What do you want to see in the paper? What are we doing that you enjoy? What do you hate?

(But let’s be constructive with that hate question. Letters to the Editor just telling us we suck aren’t really accomplishing anything. Tell us why we suck. Let us know how we could be less suck-y.)

We need to find out what you want to read.

Wishing we had more coverage of the Gym Dogs?

Write us a letter.

Got a strong opinion about an SGA proposal? Write it up and click “column submission” on our website to find out how to get your voice heard.

Is a story idea or question burning in your mind?

Use the “news tip” function on the site and share it with us.

We’ll definitely look into the issue.

We also have some pretty big changes coming to our website — changes designed to make the paper more interactive for you.

Once again, you should feel special.

Throughout the semester, we’ll be adding five blogs to the site.

Our own Zach Dillard, last semester’s sports editor, has already started our sports blog — “Dog Days.”

It’s up and running, so take a look.

In the weeks to come, the variety section will take over a food blog; Samantha Shelton — of Sex in the Classic City fame — is working on an “out and about” blog for the Athens area; we’ll also have a news/politics blog and an editor’s blog.

Best of all, the new blogs mean we’re working on bringing back comments to parts of our website.

The blogs are designed to be more conversational than our regular news stories, and we want you to be a part of that conversation.

Our bloggers will try their hardest to respond to your comments and keep the dialogue going. With the new comment system, you, the reader, will become a part of a lasting campus discourse.

And though standard news stories will remain comment-free — write us a letter to respond to these issues — we may add online comments to opinions columns as the semester progresses.

So what do you think? Do you have a comment about comments? Let us know.

Because, as editor in chief, I’m interested in your stories. I want to hear them all, write them down and share them with others. I want to answer your questions and find out more.

You’re why The Red & Black tracks down the big stories. You’re why our reporters are asking tough questions every day. You’re why we do what we do.

And we want to hear from you.

— Mimi Ensley is the editor-in-chief of The Red & Black