When I decided in the spring of 2006 that I wanted to become a Sun columnist after I determined that I was sticking around for law school, I did so with the best of intentions.

I figured that since I had spent so much time following (and sometimes editing) each and every thing that happened on The Hill (and because I was never able to give my opinion on anything) that it would be a fun, exciting and enriching experience.

And it has.

Only, I’m not really sure that I’ve actually accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

So, let’s look back at my first column, entitled “Reboot,” which was printed Aug. 20, 2006. In that column, I wrote:

“I am going to do my best to discuss issues specific to Cornell every two weeks and try to give you a more ‘internal’ perspective on them: the perspective that I had when I was managing editor.

“Camping out for hours in a stairwell during the Redbud Eight’s Day Hall takeover in spring 2005, investigating the mysterious resignation of President Lehman, speculating about the identity of a new president, in addition to following the inner workings of the Student Assembly at its most dysfunctional, gives one a very unique viewpoint on campus issues. And that’s what I am going to try to bring to you.

“I also might throw in some stories from my experiences as a Sun editor, call attention to some great things occurring on The Hill and rant about some Uni­ver­sity policies and happenings that particularly disturb me.”

That was my intention. I just didn’t realize how hard it would be.

I’ve found myself writing more about other colleges and interesting things going on in other places, but not really about Cornell. Since, historically, one of my small gripes has been that The Sun opinion section tends to trend a bit too much toward commenting on issues better left for the The New York Times (or, if you prefer, The Wall Street Journal), I should probably be contributing more to the “solution” rather than the “problem,” lest I seem like a hypocrite.

The problem is that, more than I could have ever imagined, being a law student at Cornell is completely different from being an undergrad.

When I was an undergraduate, I was all over campus every day. I would walk from Collegetown to Ives Hall, then maybe to Ho Plaza, onto the Arts Quad and back. Sometimes, I’d even go to North or West Campus. I would talk to my friends and classmates (all of whom were in different classes and in different clubs and were working on different things). I had meetings with administrators and coffee with student leaders.

But now? I can count the amount of times that I’ve been on the Arts Quad over the last year and a half on one hand. Perhaps if I hadn’t been a Cornell undergrad I might have been more inclined to explore, but to a large extent, the life of a first year — and even second year — law student pretty much keeps you in Myron Taylor Hall all day, especially late in the semester.

Is it a nice building? Sure. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss having to go outside between classes.

But I digress …

The point is that, although I do read through The Sun every day, it has been unbelievably difficult to keep my finger on the pulse of what has been going on around here aside from what is printed. More specifically, there’s a big difference between knowing what is going on, and knowing how people are feeling about it, which was really one of the main parts of my job as managing editor.

So, believe it or not, it is very hard to come up with a topic (even every two weeks) to write about. And I believe the problem is that I don’t know what you’re thinking.

So, here’s the deal:

Until I graduate (again), I want to write a column about Cornell issues. I want to write about things going on around here that are either going really well, or are going really poorly and need to be changed.

I want to go back to my aforementioned mission, and try it anew.

At the bottom of this column is an e-mail address. Use it. If there is something happening on campus that is making you angry, tell me. If there is something great happening that no one knows about, tell me.

I’m not asking you to do my job for me; I’d just like to gain a little perspective on what it’s like to be a Cornell undergraduate during the Skorton era.

I can’t guarantee I’ll read every e-mail, and I probably won’t respond. But, at least I’ll hopefully regain an sense of what makes this campus tick.

I’m looking forward to it.

Eric Finkelstein ’06 is a former Sun managing editor and is currently a second-year student in the Law School. He can be contacted at efinkelstein@cornellsun.com. Saturdays Excepted appears alternate Mondays.