This summer, I began the slow and mostly solitary process of cleaning up The Hullabaloo’s office in the basement of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life. As I hauled clunky old printers out and peeled sticky notes bearing long forgotten jokes off the walls, I thought the place must not have been cleaned since the paper moved into it in 2008 — a suspicion the paper’s staff advisor later confirmed.

One day, going through some filing cabinets, I came across something much older. Almost hidden among some recent papers was a copy of The Hullabaloo from 1927, yellowed and torn at the creases but mostly preserved. There were advertisements for cigarettes and spring frocks, schedules for trains and articles about student groups that few people alive likely remember. Then, in an adjacent drawer, I discovered not an object but an absence, one corresponding to the months following Hurricane Katrina when we ceased to print.

The Hullabaloo is a small, local college paper, but I was struck at that moment by the awareness of a kind of enormity: we were there, and we are still here.

Much has changed since our founding 120 years ago. In the 21^st century, it has become a near constant struggle to keep newspapers alive in the profoundly altered media landscape, and recent editors-in-chiefs of this paper have faced the additional challenge of publishing during a pandemic that essentially shut college campuses down. Now, having mostly recovered, it is my goal as editor-in-chief to not only maintain the positive trajectory I have inherited but to increase it, making The Hullabaloo as responsive as possible to the Tulane and New Orleans communities of today.

You may have noticed that this article appears beneath an unfamiliar section header. “Data” is The Hullabaloo’s new section for content related to science, technology, research and health. As a section editor last year, I noticed more and more writers interested in covering issues related to artificial intelligence; just before my time, many other writers concentrated on issues related to student health. I also noticed Tulane’s investment in the development of Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Enginering and Charity Hospital and the founding of the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science. Such events provided the impetus for Data’s creation.

Data also provides new opportunities for engagement with The Hullabaloo. Eventually, articles in this section will include graphs and other visualizations — results of student polls, analyses of admissions demographics and trends, maps of campus crime and more — allowing writers and readers to present and understand stories in novel ways. In a world where words are so often misconstrued or meant to mislead, pictures hold the promise of bringing us closer to truth, so long as we know how to view them.

I began my time at The Hullabaloo and at Tulane interested in other forms of pictures. In my first years as a writer for Arcade, I reviewed theater and dance performances, gallery openings and film screenings. A New Orleanian myself, I encouraged students to “breach the bubble” and experience the city more authentically. In turn, my experience writing for Arcade further deepened my appreciation for New Orleans and allowed me to connect with many people and organizations that are contributing to the vibrance of this place many of us call home.

Telling the stories of Tulane and New Orleans through community-driven content continues to be one of my goals. I hope that everyone we serve trusts us as “the eyes and ears of the Tulane community,” knowing that we will tell your stories accurately, accountably and compassionately.

This brings me to my second year. In The Hullabaloo, I became the editor of Arcade, and as a student, my identity also began to shift. Initially averse to most classes involving numbers or taught in Percival Stern Hall, I decided to join a lab on campus after enjoying a neuroscience course. And since this article is, after all, in the science and research section, I’ll use a metaphor from biology to conclude it.

In my lab, we study a brain region called the hippocampus, an oddly shaped structure mainly associated with memory. It is at the very top of the brain’s processing hierarchy, meaning that it integrates information about elements of experience across spatial and temporal scales, as well as from multiple sensory modalities. Basically, it is what allows us to form connections between the arbitrary, accidental relations of the world.

While The Hullabaloo is, according to our motto, a set of eyes and ears, it may be more accurate to call it the hippocampus. In our basement office, multiple streams of information converge, events are contextualized and codified and connections between people are made. Our paper is, in a sense, the long-term memory of the Tulane community: we have the important task of determining how students remember this time 120 years from now.

I do not plan on changing our motto — although “the hippocampus on campus” isn’t half bad — but I do plan on extending our reach. The Hullabaloo is not only still here: we are more present than ever before.

I am immensely proud to work with a team of talented and motivated writers, editors and staff that continues to grow. This year, our Managing Board is composed of Managing Editor Sophie Borislow, Chief Copy Editor Riley Hearon, Production Manager Nathan Rich, Personnel Director Zach Kempin, Digital Director Katherine Dawson and Chief Business Manager Matthew Rosenstein.

Our Fall 2024 General Board is made up of Olivia Warren, Ryann Goldberg, Lily Foster, Rosemary Mulvey, Sophia Finkbeiner, Benny Greenspan, Scott Houtkin, Alya Satchu, Ethan Lenkin, Max Handler, Evan Allbritton, Liam Majeau, Nathan Jones, Rithika Yalavarthy, Olivia Morgan, Jessica Clute, Arya Glenn, Shivani Bondada, Taylor Fishman, Campbell Harris, Ruby Motz, Ellie Weko, Laurel Daly, Olivia Faul, Marion Candler and Niabelle Comeau.

Thank you to The Hullabaloo’s advisor, Tel Francois-Baillet, for your unending commitment to and support for this organization.

Lastly, thank you to all those who read, watch or listen this paper. It is an exciting time for The Hullabaloo: I encourage everyone to get involved, whether by submitting a Letter to the Editor, advertising in our publication or joining as a member of our team. The introduction of Data in particular opens up opportunities for students who feel more comfortable looking at numbers than writing words — if this sounds like you, let us know.

Learn more on our website, email us at [email protected] or visit our office in G06 of the LBC.