From the 2019–2020 Editor-in-Chief
Welcome back returning students, and for incoming students, welcome to UC Davis — you’re an Aggie now! My name is Kaelyn Tuermer-Lee and I am a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major. I am very excited to be the editor-in-chief for The Aggie for the 2019–2020 academic year. Some of you may wonder how being an NPB major relates to journalism — while the curriculum and course load is vastly different, I find that both have the same underlying concept. Both attempt to investigate the How’s and Why’s, whether that be through quantitative polymerase chain reactions or through attending press conferences at the police station. I try to relate things I do to everyday life, and continue to ask questions and investigate rather than simply accepting things as facts.
I started at The California Aggie as a city news reporter fall quarter of my freshman year, and became assistant city news editor a quarter later before being city news editor for the following two years. Before college, I was the news editor for my high school newspaper and then became editor-in-chief the year after that, so it’s nice to come full cycle and see how some things remain constant over the years.
As the former city news editor, I am very news-oriented — I love investigative journalism and the satisfaction of being the first one to break hard-hitting news. I know that articles we publish this year will inevitably spark considerable debate and controversy, but we, as the staff of a newspaper organization, wouldn’t be doing our duty if we didn’t report on what’s going on at our university and in our community. The purpose of journalism is to report factual, timely news in an effort to not only engage with and educate readers but also to hold people and organizations accountable. The purpose is to get people to think critically and to evoke change. The California Aggie gives a voice to the student body and the greater community of Davis, and I can ensure that we are dedicated to upholding our journalistic integrity. I know that we will never stop asking questions, and neither should you.
Sincerely,
Kaelyn Tuermer-Lee
Editor-in-Chief
