You might notice something different about today’s issue of The Maneater. Since 1955, this newspaper has served as the student voice for the University of Missouri – Columbia, and, in that time, The Maneater’s print edition has undergone several redesigns. But Friday’s unveiling of this redesign is about more than a new look for The Maneater. It’s about a new mindset in bringing members of the MU community the news and coverage that matter most to them.

Through new features, such as “Your Thoughts” and our “Question of the Week” in our Forum section, we’re reaching out to readers in new ways and working on our presence on social media sites like Facebook in Twitter. It’s our mission to incorporate reader response and feedback into our product now more than ever in an effort to truly spark discussion on issues affecting students, faculty and staff.

We’re also debuting two new features in the News and Outlook sections of the paper. “On Campus, Around the Nation” will bring readers the top stories from student newspapers across the country. This will be a place to feature not only the most high-profile news stories on American college campuses but also strange news popping up at institutions across the states. A revamped police blotter does away with listings of arrests from the previous few days by the Columbia and MU Police Departments. In its place, our Crime editor and reporters will select a handful of newsworthy crimes and arrests in Columbia and on campus to report through a series of brief articles.

But this redesign isn’t based solely on functionality, it also offers several aesthetic changes and provides a facelift for the paper’s print edition as a whole. This version of The Maneater allows more room for photos, graphics, info boxes and other visual elements.

Overall, we hope to have laid solid groundwork for a redesigned Maneater that will serve the paper well for many years, due to both its visual appeal and set of new features. This semester also marks the first time since spring 2008 The Maneater has inhabited a space tailored specifically for the newspaper. So, with a new office and a newly designed print edition, our staff is truly confident that The Maneater’s best days lie ahead.

As our newspaper’s founder, Joe Gold, wrote in 1955, “You’ve been warned.”