And we're off!

Hi folks! Whether you know it or not, today's a very important day. It is the last day before a giant blizzard obliterates New England. Set your affairs in order.

It also marks the first week we go daily! From now on, every day we have school, there will be a brand new, shiny Tufts Daily waiting for you. And that means that today begins our weekly columns. Columns are a time-honored tradition at the Daily, and provide some of our most well-argued, colorful and diverse content. So without further ado, allow me to introduce to you our spring 2015 crew (in no particular order):

The Features lineup this semester blends old and new voices. Lex Erath and Miranda Wilson will both carry on their columns from previous semesters, "Sugar & Spice" and "Ecofeminism for All," respectively. "Sugar & Spice" chronicles the hilarious frustrations (and occasional joys) of life as a Tufts Jumbo, while "Ecofeminism for All" discusses gender, sexuality and other hot-button topics. With a new column for the section, titled "Swiping In," Nico Johnson will be sharing his recipes for dining hall delicacies. Kendall Todd will reflect on her explorations in the City of Light in her contribution, "Culture Shock."

Arts columnist veteran Helen Schmidt, the author of "Around the Book Block," will cover all things novel, and Emily Gruzdowich will premiere her column, "A Caffeinated Critic," which aims to bring Tufts students greater awareness of the wealth of art galleries and exhibitions in the greater Boston area. "Frost for You," by Danny Bottino, will discuss the poetry of Robert Frost and its relevance to Tufts students. And for a Thursday treat, Nikki Blank will be continuing "SWUG (Senior Washed-Up Girl)", an attitude-packed faux-advice column which we've learned is 99.99 percent guaranteed to win a smile -- or a gasp -- from our readers.

Our Opinion section will be starting this week off with a study of oppressive regimes in Caitlin Thompson's column, "Beyond the Politics of Oppressive Regimes." Later on in the week, returning columnists Henry Jani, Adam Kaminski, Pooja Sivaraman and Rebecca Solomon will grace the Op-Ed page once more. Henry writes "Reply All," which offers a delightful look at social customs, conventions and quirks, while Adam's "The Cool Column" reports his weekly explorations in the name of immersion journalism. Our dynamic columnist duo, Pooja and Rebecca, will be back with "New York Style Delhi: Non-kosher Advice in Jumbo Sized Servings," a funny, lighthearted serving of life and relationship advice.

Sports also brings back a team of experienced writers, although today's paper kicks things off with rookie Wil Glavin. Wil's column, "The Fantasy Expert," will be dishing out fantasy baseball wisdom. Sam Gold will continue talk about ethics in professional and collegiate sports in "The Gold Standard," while Tyler Maher's "Beantown Beat" provides an up-close look at the Boston sports scene. Finally, "The Association," by Steven Hefter, tracks issues facing the NBA and the world of professional basketball as a whole.

We couldn't be more exited to introduce this crop of talented, entertaining writers, and hope you enjoy these columns as much as we do.