Continuing the year-old tradition of this publication, Thursday we will present a review of the top 10 stories of the year as seen through the eyes of this award-winning collegiate publication.
    One news year on a university campus can produce a wide array of memorable stories that helped shape life on campus. Events focus on life, death, policy and matters of opinion.
    This year, of course, was no different.
    An extensive list of issues provided a challenge for a staff of student-journalists who strive to produce a highly informative product every Tuesday and Thursday.
    This year, The Appalachian succeeded in its continuing commitment to present the facts on issues that most greatly affect its readers.
    We tackled head-on the most controversial, complex and emotional issues.
    Reporters and editors worked relentlessly to research and comprehend these topics, giving hour upon hour of their time to guarantee the highest quality newspaper this campus deserves.
    For these reasons, we would like to provide an opportunity to look back on our efforts as student-journalists to report the truth on important events that no doubt changed many perspectives on at least one issue this past year.
    We attempted to inform our readers of important developments concerning campus issues impacting the students, faculty and staff who comprise the university community. We hope our efforts allowed our readers to make informed judgments on these issues, a vital function of any newspaper in a community setting.
    The events that presented themselves seemed to affect everyone on campus in some way.
    This staff tried to reach the essence of each event, reflecting our staff’s collective effort to uncover the truth behind those issues.
    This organization was challenged numerous times to present meaningful stories on issues that affected our readers in an accurate and in-depth manner.
    As was the case with several of the issues that will be featured in Thursday’s second-annual “Newsmakers of the Year” section, the university community saw the still-developing skills of our student-journalists come to the forefront.
    Thursday’s special edition will allow us all to look back at an amazing year.
    To our readers we would like to send a very special thank you and extend an invitation to join us Thursday as we take a look back at this exceptional year in campus news.