The Tribune's Viewpoints page has given the community a forum to express its frustration, joy, disdain and persuasive arguments on issues as broad as drink machines in the Alumni Memorial Union to the Golden Eagle v. the Warrior to international affairs. Now, the Tribune will join the debate.
Beginning Thursday, the Tribune will publish staff editorials, which have been on hiatus from the newspaper for about 12 years.
Staff editorials, which can be found in any college or city newspaper, are opinion pieces that represent the opinion of the newspaper, not the views of individuals at the Tribune nor the University. The editorial board will write more Thursday on the board's mission.
Society has traditionally looked to its newspapers as leaders for an informed opinion when faced with tough decisions, such as who to vote for, whether a proposed policy is valid or whether or not to go to war. The editorial page can also give voice to social justice issues that don't receive a lot of interest but deserve attention. We hope to further fulfill a watchdog role within the university community. And we expect the editorial page to challenge society's problems and laud its successes. Staff editorials will provide a strong consistent opinion and highlight social issues the board feels you as readers should know about.
Why are we reinstituting editorials? The Tribune editors feel that informed discussion is a vital part of the learning process — one we hope to augment with our editorials. And as higher education students at a Jesuit institution, we believe public debate is a significant element of learning. We hope to be part of a renewed sense of debate on campus — one that will help cultivate the leaders of our generation.
Our editorials will present informed opinions that stem from critical thinking, thorough research and lengthy debate among a group of students that make up the Tribune editorial board.
The names of the board members are listed on this page. The students on the board represent a variety of backgrounds, including age, major, ethnicity and religion. While the editorials allow an opportunity for the Tribune to show an opinion on an issue, the news, sports and entertainment pages will remain objective. As is done at city newspapers, our reporters will not be writing our editorials.
The editors at the Tribune feel staff editorials will supplement the public commentary provided on the Viewpoints page, which has been updated. The TribuneViewpoints page will contain opinion pieces from our staff — a cartoon, a staff column, and one or two staff editorials. The Viewpoints page, which has been renamed CampusViewpoints, will contain letters to the editor, or Viewpoints.
We invite individuals or groups at Marquette and the surrounding community to speak to the editorial board, which will meet Sundays at 6:30 p.m. in Johnston Hall 004. Please e-mail [email protected] prior to the meeting if you would like to present to the board.
We don't expect everyone to agree with our editorials. We even expect disagreement among our 12-member board. So as always, we welcome feedback as we travel a new course. Please write a Viewpoint or a letter to the editor or call the Tribune when you disagree with us.
I would also like to further the invitation to write or call us when you have a story suggestion or find an error on our pages. Our phone numbers are listed in the staff box on this page.
One of the important roles of a newspaper is to provide educated, informed, two-sided arguments on relevant social issues. As both a learning lab for students and a professional newspaper, the Tribune staff hopes to grow in this venture. We hope you agree and read our new page 4.
Jen Haberkorn is the editor in chief of The MarquetteTribune. Comments can be directed to [email protected] or 288-7246.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Jan. 18 2005.
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