Every so often you might notice a photo in the paper unaccompanied by anything more than a short description of the action in the photo. These might vary from a picture of Mayor Bates raising a glass in honor of the law legalizing brew pubs to a hard-news image of tree-sit supporters scaling the fence which currently surrounds the oak grove. We call these feature photos.

We run feature photos for a variety of reasons, but it’s usually one of the following:

• To acknowledge an event which doesn’t need a full news story
• To capture a bit more of the regular oddness (that sounds oxymoronic) of Berkeley life
• To make sure there are always visual elements in the paper
• Because they look cool

Feature photos are one of the ways in which The Daily Californian photo department has an opportunity to flex our muscles, to run images with more concentration on the aesthetic portion of photo journalism than on the reporting aspect.

They (whoever they are) say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, generally, I like to think they’re worth the length of a news story–a way for the photo department to independently engage the reader and provide a little some extra. I’d hope you agree.

On Tuesday the Daily Cal published two op-eds with opposing views on the Memorial Stadium and Student Athlete High Performance Center project. The first one, by ASUC senators Dave Rhoads and Gabe Weiner, discussed the importance of the athletic center to student and employee safety. The second, written by UC Berkeley student and Free Speech Free Trees member Matthew Taylor, argued for preserving the oak grove because of its intrinsic sacred nature.

There’s been a lot said on the stadium lawsuit and the athletic center, but the majority of opinions in the news comes from campus administrators, city officials, lawyers, and other Berkeley community members. This proposed project is one of the most contentious and significant issues to hit UC Berkeley, and it’s important that student have their voices heard on this subject.

The Daily Cal is a great medium for students to express those views. The opinion section not only runs editorials, which are the opinions of the Senior Editorial Board, but also publishes op-ed and letters, many submitted by students. The Daily Cal Opinion Page is a forum for the campus and community and one of the most accessible resources available for students to air their thoughts.

So the next time your student group is organizing a special awareness event, or if an article in the newspaper rubs you the wrong way, tell us. Let your opinions be known. You can submit letters and op-eds to opinion@dailycal.org.

Two months since the launch of The Daily Californian Editor’s Blog, we’re making a few changes to better fulfill the original purpose of this project.

As part of our commitment to editorial transparency, this blog will now include posts by all Daily Cal editors. It will continue to explore issues on editorial decision-making, ethics and coverage, but the posts will now be from the people directly involved.

I’m going to come out and say it: This is the year the Cal football team earns a trip to the Rose Bowl in January.

Personally, I do not believe in jinxing the thing. After all, Bears fans have tried every trick in the book for almost a half-century to no avail. Plus, it’s my senior year. One can hope, right?

Whether you agree with me or not, you must at least acknowledge the possibility of Cal playing in January, and with that in mind, the Daily Cal is poised to bring you comprehensive coverage of Bears football all season long.

There will be four writers on the beat—sports editor Steffi Chan, Steven Dunst, Ryan Gorcey and Gerald Nicdao. Chan said the extra personnel will mean more analysis and features on players who otherwise would not get as much coverage. This week’s articles included features on Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen, and Craig Stevens.

The special Saturday Gameday editions will again be passed out at all home games and at the Big Game in Stanford. We hope to generate awareness about the issues and devise a more efficient distribution plan, especially for the students attending the games.

It can either be a magical season or just another heartbreaking chapter for Cal, but we’re ready to bring you all the details. For the next four months, let’s savor all the memories!