A fresh start, with fresh voices

The opinion page of The Daily Tar Heel plays a distinct role in the life of the University.

Every year feels like a fresh start.

For some, it is the beginning of college and some of the best years of their life. But for the majority of students on campus, the fall is a chance to start an old routine anew.

So it is with the DTH and the Opinion page.

The DTH is starting its year off with an especially clean slate. Over the summer, the DTH (like many students) transitioned to a new home off campus. It is a truly exciting time.

But while our location and many of our members have changed, our goals have not. This Opinion page is dedicated to striving for the same ideal that it always has. And it is committed to meeting the high standards of excellence that readers have come to expect from the DTH.

Let’s start with the editorial board, which seems to be the least understood part of our operation.

The board meets three times a week to discuss and decide editorial topics and angles. All topics and angles are decided collectively and rely on consensus.

Editorials represent the stance of the full board, and so the board stands by its positions and its arguments. This is why editorials are unsigned. They are a collective opinion. It is why every members’ name is at the top of every opinion page, every day.

We have an especially fresh editorial board this year to go with our new office. I look forward to sharing with the campus a fresh set of perspectives, and the timely, relevant and informative commentary that those perspectives provide.

We have some great columnists this semester as well. They will be weighing in with their own independent commentary and diverse perspectives on a wide range of topics.

Among them are race and ethnicity, sexual and personal health, experiences from abroad, how the sciences impact our lives, and the lives of two freshmen at UNC.

Our goal is to have a rich and informative column every day. Not just some days. Not just most days.

And of course, who could forget our cartoonists? We have a great staff of UNC students this semester, and we aim to have a student-produced cartoon every day.

Finally — and perhaps most importantly — the success of our page depends on you.

Every day we run letters to the editor. In fact, we rely on them in order to produce a page every day.

And we welcome them. Your comments and critiques challenge both the opinion and news desks to provide better coverage.
And, of course, there is Friday’s kvetching board.

We love getting your kvetches. The more that you send, the better it will be every Friday.

Students have a stake in what happens in our shared school, community and state.

Simply put: The opinion desk aims to continue to give students the voice and the analysis for them to effectively exercise that stake.

Cameron Parker is the Opinion Editor at The Daily Tar Heel. He is a junior economics and public policy major from Forsyth, Ga. Email him at cparker1013@gmail.com.