To write is to be honest, to set truth above all in the name of the reader.

To write is to be fair, to level the playing field between the P.R. hack and the grape worker.

To write is to be blunt, to present the reader with the goods and reveal the love interests behind political intrigues.

To write is to respect, to honor the citizen and protect the privacy of those who haven't desired the spotlight but may have been born into it.

To write is to tell it like it is, to avoid neutrality at all costs, to be objective only through the telescope of morality.

"To write," it is true, is all these things, and more. "To write" is ultimately inexplicable and unbuyable--not even available through Kaplan. "To write" has a lot more at stake than scores. "To write" is itself a metaphysical concept.

To write is to receive.

To write is to give.

To write is to love.

To write is to hate.

To write is to live.

Joshua A. Kaufman's term as editorial chair of The Crimson ends today. He will somehow carry on.