The University is extremely proud to publish the first issue of Kaleidoscope, the University of Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. This journal affords UK undergraduate students a new and very important opportunity to participate in the full process of intellectual discovery and public scholarship. It provides an opportunity for UK undergraduate students to develop and refine their abilities as investigators and authors, and it serves as an outlet for work that spans the complete intellectual spectrum of the University - the natural sciences, the humanities and creative arts, the social sciences, and technical and professionally related topics. The articles contained in this inaugural issue illuminate that spectrum and display the outstanding talent of UK students.

The University of Kentucky understands that its success in becoming one of the nation's leading public research universities requires that it offer the best undergraduate education possible. The University also believes that the key to excellence in undergraduate education is to involve students as early and as frequently as possible in the culture and the methods of scholarly inquiry, analysis, and integration. Kaleidoscope now joins several other initiatives at UK, such as the Discovery Seminars, the undergraduate research program, and several externally supported research opportunities that give our students varied and in-depth experiences in the research enterprise.

I want to express my appreciation to the faculty and staff who serve on Kaleidoscope's Editorial Board for their investment of time and dedicated attention to cultivating and reviewing the articles published in the journal. I am particularly grateful to associate provost Phil Kraemer for his energetic support of this venture, and to Bob Tannenbaum for his excellent work as the first Editor of the Journal.

Finally, I congratulate the students whose work is published in this inaugural issue. Not only do your fine contributions reflect your individual excellence, they bring great credit to the University of Kentucky. I hope they also encourage other students to follow in your footsteps and be future authors in Kaleidoscope.