oday we are glad to offer you the first issue of our English version. Definitely, it will not be a mere copy of the Russian edition - some of the articles will appear in both versions, but some -won't. We are planning to publish both translated materials & the ones, originally written in English. As REG is a non-commercial, unfunded edition, created & supported by the students & professors of the Department of Journalism at Rostov State University, it is not possible to create a full English version of REG at the moment, though we are planning to do it in future.
          In this issue we offer you two articles ("Magister Ludi: Word Play in Vladimir Nabokov's Prose in the Light of a Theory of Puns" by A.M.Luxemburg & "Autotranslation As A Specific Variety Of Poetical Transversion" by S.G.Nikolayev), which have been originally written in English, abstracts & precis of the others. Most of the translations have been made by students of Rostov State University.
          This is our new project, so we apologize for any possible malfunctions & mistakes.
          Feel free to send your comments & ideas to REG editorial board (reg@math.rsu.ru) or to the editor-in-chief (akopov@math.rsu.ru or alivak@aanet.ru) - we'll be grateful for your cooperation.
          Dear English-speaking readers! We invite you to take part in our project & get your stories & articles published in our newspaper. Some of these materials - with your kind permission - could also appear in our Russian version.

          History
          "Rostovskaya Electronnaya Gazeta" was created at the Chair of Theory & Practice of Journalism at the Rostov State University on March 8th, 1998. Originally, REG was intended for Fido-Net users only, but since June 1998 REG has been also published on the Internet. In 1998 only six issues of REG appeared, which was primarily due to the non-commercial status of the edition. At the present moment REG is updated twice a month. REG is a unfunded project & most of the work is done by students & staff of the Department of Journalism at the Rostov State University. Students & professors are also the principal authors. The "father" & the editor-in-chief is Alexander Akopov, Head of the Chair of Theory & Practice of Journalism at Rostov State University.