It’s spring and The Weekly has just finished its first year of publication. And with a sense of the great changes spring brings, the editors decided it was time to make a few alterations. Confirmed & Denied, still your one-stop shop for hot gossip, has a new home, snuggled up tight to the survey. The move makes room for a weekly graphic feature, which in this issue will show you the best places to visit in Wicker Park (pg. 3). We’ve also introduced a new feature called “Why We Like…” – an exegesis on a piece of art or culture that has been particularly influential in the life of one of our writers (pg. 8).

As for the rest of the magazine, Jeremy Gordon has a funny and fantastic cover story that takes an in-depth look at the drug scene at NU (pg. 5). And make sure to catch Sara Peck’s eye-opening examination of the day-to-struggles of Sudanese refugees in Chicago (pg. 7). But I’ve forgotten the best part! By now you’ve seen the redesigned cover, which is a radical departure for The Weekly, but one, I believe, befitting the sense of renewal that spring brings each year.

— Kyle Berlin, The Weekly editor-in-chief