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You might be thinking, “What is this rag that has appeared in my new flat?”

First off, ‘rag’ is a bit harsh. The Boar is the University of Warwick’s student newspaper. It’s made by us, students, for you, students. You should be seeing us lying around a lot over the next couple of years. And we want you to get involved.

But why, in this age of internet and TV news, is a student newspaper still necessary? Well for one thing we are not behind the times — our website is at [theboar.org](/) and you can follow us on Twitter at [@warwickboar](http://twitter.com/warwickboar). For another, the student newspaper is an integral part of university life. Whether you love it or hate it, read it or use it as a coaster (we hope you’ll do the former), to have a publication around campus that you know is produced by your peers is essential to student culture.

Nonetheless, it’s about more than just abstract feeling. In an institution where government and business pull all the strings (despite what the University might want you to think), it’s easy to feel like you’re just a pawn in the machinations of forces much bigger than you. Although the Students’ Union helps to give students a unified voice, with confusing politics and busy schedules it is easy to lose your feeling of individualism as a part of this.

That’s where we come in. Whether you just want to hear the voices of others or want your own voice heard, the _Boar_ (yes, the pun is intentional) has been here for you since 1973. It’s also a great start to a career in journalism, writing or almost anything else, and we offer training to help you get your writing to where you want it to be. In this issue, you can read the stories of former Boarites who have gone onto greatness, or at least goodness, in their fields.

As well as being great for work, you will also make some fantastic friends. We are a social society, and have regular meals and socials in Leamington. You are at a stage now where you are away from the protective bosom of your family and home town and you are starting to branch out on your own; the _Boar_ is a great way to help you reinforce that independence.

And yes, we are independent. Though we are based in the Students’ Union building, we are completely editorially independent – so long as we don’t state as fact something that isn’t true, we can publish whatever we like about the SU, the University or anything else. This is another reason why it is so important to have student journalism; who else is there to hold those greater forces to account? Just last year, we criticised the University for raising parking fees for students in a wide-ranging campaign, and also called the Union to account for its handling of the cancellation of the traditional Final Fling end-of-year party. If you want to get involved on the news side of things, you’ll be helping to investigate many of these issues that directly affect us at Warwick, and ensuring that our perspective is listened to.

Not that you have to get involved with news. Just in terms of writing, we have a variety of sections, including Comment, Money, Lifestyle, Sport and an array of Arts & Reviews sections. You can write just one article for us in your whole time here or contribute every week – it’s completely up to you!

Plus, writing isn’t all you can do. In this very issue you can see some of the other kinds of people we need at the _Boar_, including tech-savvy production people, the grammar Nazis among you for sub-editing, photographers, editors, business-minded folk – whatever your talent or interest, there is sure to be something that takes your fancy.

So do you like the look of this ‘rag’? Or do you hate it and think you could do better? Come see us at the Societies Fair, drop us an email or come along to our open day. You could be part of something that for nearly forty years has been Warwick students’ way of being heard through protests and financial troubles, through Thatcher and Blair – whether the issue is how to handle the Israel-Palestine situation or whether we should have a takeaway here on campus, the _Boar_ has been here and will be until freedom is dead. Or the money dries up.

Find out more about how to get involved on our [join page](/join/).