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It can be easy to skim a newspaper, take in the headlines and visuals, and then move on.

I admit it – there are days when I look through the Los Angeles Times or New York Times and quickly move on, putting my mind back to class or another concern of that day.

But then there are other days. There are days when I read a headline and immediately call a friend to ask whether he has heard the news.

Sometimes the purpose of the call is shock. Maybe I need others to confirm that they heard the report too before I can believe it.

Other times, my response to the news I read is dismay or distress. On those occasions, the purpose of the call is to vent anger or share concern. (I have been known to throw things in frustration, though never anything breakable.)

And on occasional reads, the call I make is to share good news and relay something I know will bring excitement.

At its best, the news represents facts just as they are and allows readers to respond accordingly.

I realize perhaps you think this only occurs in an idealized world. Perhaps you have become jaded by bias in the media and expect the facts to be skewed and twisted to bring you around to a certain opinion.

Perhaps you find it improbable that a news source would truly just present the facts.

But I think it’s OK to live in an idealized world, or at least try to. We can, and should, strive to reach an ideal in every activity we do, no matter how distant that ideal may seem.

I will strive for idealism in the News section of the Daily Bruin.

And in giving you information about the latest decisions from the administration, developments in science or global events, I hope to affect you in the way I am sometimes affected when I read the news.

I hope that when you read The Bruin, you find something in it you want to share with a friend or something you think about after you close the paper.

The media has the power to do many things – it can pull people together in shared sorrow; it can bring excitement or anger to a person’s day; it can present information that could change a person’s life.

However you react to the news you read in The Bruin, I hope it is not with indifference.

I would rather you throw the paper down in anger at the content of a story than idly toss it aside.

It is my goal this year to bring you the news that matters in the most clear way possible.

That goal is certainly not revolutionary, I know. But I want The Bruin to do for you what the best news can do: tell you what you need to know.

But I can’t accomplish my goal very well on my own. I may want you to think the Daily Bruin staff is all-knowing and all-seeing, but we’re not. We want and need your input.

If you don’t see the news you care about covered in the news section, tell me. You can tell me what you think I should cover, and maybe what you think I shouldn’t cover.

Now that you have seen my picture, you can even stop me on campus if you would like, though it would probably be easier to call or e-mail me. You can reach me at staylor@media.ucla.edu or 310-825-2795.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Taylor is the 2006-2007 news editor, and she is wondering whether publishing her phone number and asking students to stop her on the street was such a good idea.