When I told friends I was hired as the new editorials and opinions page editor of the Daily, I received many congratulations. However, I also heard a few complaints about the Daily’s opinions page, namely that it only contains pieces from the liberal viewpoint.

While I haven’t gone through past issues to count the columns from different perspectives (which wouldn’t necessarily prove anything anyway), I think what people said is largely unfounded.

The unsigned editorials do represent the informed opinions of the Daily’s editorial board. However, the opinions page does not represent the view of any particular individual or group (and typically is triple the size of the editorial board section). The opinions page is meant to be a forum for the expression of ideas from a wide spectrum of perspectives. I intend to make it as balanced – in terms of both topics and viewpoints – as possible.

Sometimes, attempts to maintain this balance might be out of my control. Past editors tried to obtain diverse columns, sometimes to their success, other times not. I will strive to get opinion pieces from a wide range of University members and also from different ideological perspectives. Getting people to respond, however, can be more difficult than one might realize.

I will also attempt to choose a diverse group of columnists, but accomplishing this will depend on the quality and diversity of applicants.

Obtaining a balanced, diverse opinions page isn’t solely my duty. The burden also lies on the Daily readers. If you want to see an issue covered, share your thoughts; don’t expect that someone else will.

If a guest column is well-written and relevant to our readership, it will most likely be printed, as long as there is room to run it and there have not been similar pieces published recently. Higher priority will be given to writers from the University community.

Send your opinion pieces to [email protected]; they should be 450 to 600 words long.

Shannon Fiecke is a journalism senior and the Daily’s editorials and opinions editor. She can be reached at [email protected]