Opening up the Viewpoint page in the Technician these days you will notice the section has undergone major changes. Since the summer or last spring the section has transformed itself with a new design layout as well as adding the “In Your Words” feature.
As our Editor in Chief Josh Harrell wrote in his “State of the Technician” column, we have brought back the Focused section to provide an in depth look into campus related issues. These Focused sections have touched such topics as the LGBT center, judicial reform and student fees; we are committed to providing students with more hard hitting issues in the future.
“In your Words” is the newest feature of the Viewpoint section, however it’s not the only innovation we are planning bring to you. As we look to the future we are trying to come up with new ways to obtain a diverse and wide range of opinions for the section. So continue to look for new features to show up in the Viewpoint section.
Over the last few months you, the reader, have had the opportunity to read and write forum letters within the Viewpoint section of the paper. Here at the Technician, we pride ourselves on receiving feedback from you, the reader.
It’s feedback from you that allows us to gain an understanding for how we are performing as your student newspaper. The letters that we receive let us know what stories and columns have attracted the most attention. Columnists enjoy the response that forum letters provide because it’s a signal they have accomplished part of their job in stirring debate and bringing to light issues to the campus community.
In the future, if you decide to exercise your right and write a forum letter we would ask that you provide us with the information that we need in order to verify that it really is you who authored and sent in the letter. This information includes: your name, year, major and a phone number where we can contact you. Additionally, sending the forum letter via your N.C. State unity e-mail will give us automatic verification.
Finally, our columnists and cartoonists have done a wonderful job producing columns and cartoons that not only are enjoyable to read, but are on diverse and thought provoking subjects. While you might not agree with what a columnist writes or cartoonist draws, I would encourage you to at least look at what they have written or drawn and maybe you might rethink your position, or strengthen your current one.
If you think that you might be interested in writing columns for Viewpoint you should e-mail me at [email protected]. We are always looking for new staff members or guest columnists.
All in all the Viewpoint section has and will continue to be a work in progress. We are looking to provide you the reader the best opinions page possible. Trying something new, whether it be a feature on the page or the page layout itself, is something that excites me on a nightly basis.
If you disagree with anything that I have written, then please let me know by letting your voice be heard by writing a forum letter.
Feel free to e-mail and give me your thoughts at [email protected].