About the Election Issue

There are three sides to every story: yours, mine and the truth. Together, they make three borders of veracity. But in politics, those boundaries slowly morph and dissolve.

Like the cord between a child’s string and can telephone toy, the wavelengths of truth oscillate and shake during a general election year. Both candidates yell into their cans, vibrating the strings in hopes of reaching the cups at each of your ears. They roar louder and louder, nullifying each other, vying for your attention until a dead white noise is left ringing in an abandoned receiver.

There is still a week left until the Nov. 6 Election Day, but that one day will decide the next four years of our lives. In this issue, we have featured the topics that matter most to you, like health care, the economy and financial aid. We have outlined the platforms, ideals and opinions of each candidate, and we haven’t forgotten other power players: the third parties, vice presidents and first ladies. We introduce students who are working to create change in a stagnant political climate, but we haven’t forgotten the goodies, like best celebrity tweets or election movies, that are a staple of the political theater. We lay this information out before you as a tool to build your own truth.

Winston Churchill once said that “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” And the media only hastens the travel. In this special election issue, we catch up to the lies and give you two sides of this election story.

But of course, catching up took the efforts of multiple people, so I would like to take this time to thank all the writers, editors, designers, past editors and professors who helped me understand the true meaning of teamwork.

Now take this information, and go shape your own truth.

— AMY ZHANG, Web Managing Editor