Student Input -- Integral to Paper

KATE HARTIG

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

I always thought that The Daily Tar Heel did a real good job of pissing people off.

Before I started working at the DTH, I felt like I read biting letters to the editor almost every day, where a student, a faculty member or a resident would spout off about how offended they were by something that was in the paper.

You'd think that by now, two weeks into the school year -- something we have published would have incited an decent flow of bickering letters into our office.

But that hasn't been the case.

It makes me wonder if people really care or if they read the paper.

On both counts, I refuse to believe that they don't -- but instead have realized something about UNC students.

Sometimes, we are all so involved in our own lives -- school, friends, family, extra-curricular activities and fun -- that it may be hard to take time out to speak your mind and voice your opinions.

Many students find the time to write or e-mail us letters -- and we appreciate it -- but some is not enough.

The Editorial Page of the DTH can't do its job without student input. The DTH can't do its job fully -- as a newspaper for the students -- without your insight.

Everyday, I head to our newsroom mailbox and check our on-line mailbox looking for letters. Several have trickled in, but I know that there is so much more that you guys want to say.

I hear students all day long talking about stuff. But mostly not about issues.

What I usually hear about is how school sucks (well, obviously), who you saw "uptown" last night and what you are doing this weekend.

Because of my job at the paper, I talk about issues a lot. And honestly, I often look forward to this type of everyday small talk with my friends.

At the same time, however, I know that you guys have opinions about things -- not just about the University, but about our community, our country and society. I hear traces of conversations everyday around campus -- you guys do care.

But maybe you don't have the time to write a letter or don't believe your opinions and thoughts have a place in our paper.

But they do.

The Editorial Page runs the Readers' Forum almost every day in order to give as many of our readers the opportunity to speak out.

There is nothing more powerful than your own words in print -- it's permanent and real and sustains so much more physical legitimacy than any e-mail or instant message ever will. You may not realize just how many people read our paper every day -- 39,000 -- as a matter of fact. Your opinions will be heard.

Also, you don't have to be pissed off or offended to write us a letter. Tell us about your point of view on issues, on things you think we should cover or an angle we might have missed.

I know that we forget, I know I do, that we are all a part of something so much larger than our lives at school. We are all a part of this University community, the country and society, in general.

Be a contributor. Put your thoughts into words. Read the paper, become aware of what's going on around you.

And of course, I don't mind hearing your "uptown" stories either, but I know some of those are not for publication.

Send letters to editdesk@unc.edu.