Dear readers, 

Thank you so much for visiting our website. This issue will be my last issue as the editor-in-chief of the paper. Though it has only been a year since taking this position, my four years on the staff at The Uproar have been good ones. I am confident that this paper is being left in good hands, and that you, dear reader, will be able to enjoy excellent student journalism for years to come. As this is my last issue, I wanted to take a different approach to this letter and discuss some wider issues close to my heart this time around.  

The result of the 2024 presidential election has left a lot of the country and CSU campus feeling conflicted and upset. I am not here to tell you if your feelings are right or wrong. Feel them, work through them, and then dust yourself off and keep going. The first death you experience is the death of the heart. The heart dies when all you let it feel is despair and you never let it feel anything else.  

Now is the time to lean on the communities I hope you have been able to build. Now is the time to help others out of the lake and give them a towel so they can shed those remnants of sorrow clinging to them. If you have not taken the time to build communities, to be a member of one, to be a good neighbor, I implore you to start.  

With all of that being said, this issue does not focus exclusively on the election or the political season. The Uproar has experienced an influx of new writers, editors and illustrators, so let this issue serve as your introduction to them. 

Reporter Evie Smith was in attendance at the Walz rally that took place in Columbus a week before the election. Smith was able to speak with Columbusites in attendance to capture the feel of the rally. 

Reporter Janae Chappell brings you a discussion on mass incarceration, a topic often overlooked by many. Chappell is also bringing you sports coverage of the CSU boys’ basketball team and an article about fashion.  

Senior copy editor Nadia Jacobs brings two things to the table this issue. As she has been in England for the semester on study abroad, she is writing a travel article about the country. In addition to writing about travel, she is also putting pen to paper on the intricacies of English culture. 

I hope you enjoy reading this issue. Remember you are loved and valued, and if no one believes in you, I believe in you. 

Nick Bentley 

Editor-in-Chief