New Year Means New Start
Editorial

The start of every new year brings out the same feelings- the optimism that comes with a new beginning and the promise inherent in a chance to start fresh.

This year, 2008, holds out more than the usual reason for anticipatory excitement. For one thing, it's a day longer than its immediate predecessor. 2008 is a Leap Year, which means that this year's calendars will boast a February 29. Anyone born on February 29 can technically claim to have a birthday only once every four years, although in common years such "leapings", as they are known, usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 or March 1. Tradition holds that women may make marriage proposals only in a Leap Year; in Greece it is sometimes believed that being married in a leap year is bad luck for the couple. (We believe that in both cases, this is a decision best left up to the individual.)

2008 will hold another quadrennial event, the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Athletes from all over the world will gather at the capital city of the Republic of China to vie for gold, silver and bronze medals and demonstrate that excellence in sports transcends the artificial constraints of nationality and ethnicity. While some events will have among their contenders athletes who have competed in previous years, many sports will also number new entrants to competition at a world-class level, again holding out the promise of the start of new careers and new distinctions.

Most important, to us, is the fact that this year will hold the most important of American political contests, the election of a new president of the United States. Whatever goes into the process of parties' selecting a candidate, it is impossible not to feel that the persons chosen to represent their prospective parties also represent the dawn of a new era. Even in election years where an incumbent is running, the promise of a new start for many of the programs and policies to be put into effect with a new government is inherent in the process. And though sometimes the political process seems to be far removed from the individual voter, at bottom the indisputable fact remains that we, the people, are once again called on to exercise the most important responsibility we have as citizens, the choosing by free, secret ballot, of our Chief Executive, the person who will follow the mandate of the voters, not his or her own desires. This year we will truly celebrate government of the people, by the people and for the people by demonstrating exactly how this process works for all the world to see.

We extend our best wishes and fervent hopes for a truly Happy New Year to all our readers. We look forward to sharing the next 12 months with all of you.