Sometimes, you get exactly what you want. Then again, sometimes, you don’t. So if you’re picking up this magazine and expecting the same old stories, i.e., a splattered chronicle of student’s favorite spots to hangout (all, disappointingly, on-campus chains) or a pointlessly crafted calendar of events you’ll never even consider stopping by, then go ahead and do yourself a favor: find the nearest recycling can, and throw Cooglife away. Because that’s not what this is at all.
Gone are the days of the Life & Arts section of The Cougar, with its reviews on albums of which you’ve never heard, coverage of plays you won’t watch and lists of books you’ll never read. You didn’t notice because you were already glazing over it to get to the Sports section.
A solid farewell, too, to the special sections of the past. They’re transitioning into Cooglife, a magazine published by The Cougar that spends the necessary time generating the quality lifestyle and entertainment stories that this city and this University definitely warrant.
In fact, Welcome to Houston — and its future monthly counterparts, including the Sex and Coogs Choose editions — is a revved-up version of those that you’ve seen in the past, but with a little more flare and a lot more funk. In the coming months, we’re rolling in an issue dedicated to car-lovers, and, for those of you with stomachs; we’ve got a restaurant guide coming your way. And, of course, a few surprises, and maybe more than a few more parties, because we couldn’t write about you if we didn’t get to know you personally. Meanwhile, The Cougar’s newspaper can focus on the kind of hard-hitting daily reporting the students want to read.
For the newcomers, we get it. You’re getting the traditional Houston welcome, congestion and all. That’s why we’ve made you a guide to roaming the urban sprawl and a J.J. Watt-hailing breakdown of the teams you’ve got to catch. Reading this magazine, you can back a first trip to the Chase Tower sky lobby with a hearty knowledge of what you’re actually viewing in the ever-growing skyline.
Really, that’s what this is all about. Admittedly, we’re here to indoctrinate you into our city and university. Welcome to Houston, the city that floods high over freeways. Welcome to Houston, that place where you have to budget an hour for a 10-mile drive. Welcome to Houston, that burgeoning quagmire of urban sprawl that, for some reason, we still love. And I guarantee you will, too.
But how did we get here?
Maybe it’s that we’re Tier One. Maybe it’s that we’ve got Renu Khator for a president. Maybe it’s that The Cougar, and Cooglife by proxy, continues to serve you, the students, by striving for the louder voice, the stronger message and the relatable stories that you deserve.
Or maybe, it’s that we’re just that damn good.
Whatever it is, we hope you stay with us and keep living, so that we can keep writing.
— Trey Strange, executive editor
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