Dear Urban,

Your Urban Legend Editors are thrilled to share the 12th edition of The Yeti magazine with you. Despite the challenges the pandemic presented this month, our staff continued to produce honest and disruptive journalism. We created this issue while members of our staff Zoomed in on our Managing Editor’s computer and our Leadership Team battled the COVID-19 close contact list and the virus itself. In this edition, we cover everything from the legal strategies used in the Ahmaud Arbery case, to Urban’s relationship with the ideal of a classic American private school, to a history of the most impactful Schoology posts. What you will read is a culmination of hours spent writing, designing and editing articles.

You may have seen us chaotically scampering through the building with our interviewees trailing behind as we sought to find a quiet place to conduct an interview. Or, you may have been that interviewee. Apologies. We regard The Urban Legend with such seriousness because of our firm belief in the importance of journalism. We believe that journalism encourages us to do the essential task of questioning aspects of our environment. In this magazine, staff members investigate the effects of video games and social media on students’ mental health, how other regions can learn from Emeryville’s approach to affordable housing and the criminal justice implications of the Tenderloin Emergency Intervention Plan. Additionally, in soliciting thoughts and opinions from Urban and the broader Bay Area community, this magazine strives to give our readers a voice and platform.

It is this belief in the importance of reporting that causes us to focus on the principles that frame our approach to journalism. Whether it be discussing the number of responses we need on a survey to have a representative sample size or how to approach objective writing that is morally accountable, we believe we are obligated to responsibly share information and stories.

A passion for discovery reverberates off the walls of the Moon Room—home of The Urban Legend. It is the staff’s intensity that makes not only the paper, but the Legend community as well. This cycle, one writer reached out to over 20 members of the Oakland A’s front office and another called Brandy Melville workers across the country. While staff members passionately pursue vastly different topics, it is not uncommon to see writers excitedly relay the content of an interview to a peer. We see this drive as essential to The Urban Legend family. From our lively headline debates to our annual (culturally inclusive) Snowy Yeti gift exchange, we work to maintain and grow a community that fuels our staff even through Week 11 tutorial and lunch production day meetings.

As we publish our last magazine with The Urban Legend, we wish to express our deep gratitude for the fulfilling experiences and friendships we’ve gained these past three years. We want to thank Lingerr Senghor and Sarah Levin for their commitment to both the paper and the staff—advocating for us with powerful questions and opinions. We also extend gratitude to the rest of our Leadership Team, one of whom will continue to serve The Urban Legend in the year to come. And finally, we want to give a huge thank you to our amazing staff, who work tirelessly to create thought-provoking journalism.

We hope you enjoy the 12th edition of The Yeti,
Zadie Winthrop, Mira Chandriani and Maya Campbell
The Urban Legend’s first three women of color Editors 🙂