Over the years I’ve been on The Poly I’ve heard from people whining about how we missed this event or that event, or didn’t report on how their group was doing something, or just plainly that The Poly doesn’t care about their news. Whether I care about their news or not, my response is usually the same: We didn’t have the staff to cover it. This has been a consistent problem for years at The Poly, and it’s something I’d like to see fixed soon.

In order to do the best we can do and report on as much as we can, we need regular staff members who want to go to events, or interview people, or do graphic design or layout, or any number of things. There are tons of opportunities on The Poly, and if you’ve made it this far into my editorial, I encourage you to look into joining. We’re looking for more people in every section, especially investigative reporters for News, campus-trend reporters for Features, and proofreaders for Copy, but I want to highlight two other sections here.

One thing that I believe The Poly sorely needs is more editorial submissions, even weekly or bi-weekly columnists from the community. Look to your right at the student government columns that usually fill the Ed/Op section. Now ask yourself this: Have you ever actually read those? If you have, you’re probably in the minority of our readership. We’re required by our bylaws to print them, and they offer worthwhile insight into student government, but it’s certainly not required that they be the only content of this section.

I’ve tried a few times to encourage more letters, like with my obscenity editorial last September—and did that ever work. My editorial was called everything from a “potty-mouthed polemic” to an “intellectual piece of literature.” Letters to the Editor and My Views don’t always have to be responses to content in the paper, however, and I’d like to see a lot more letters from students and faculty on just general topics affecting them. If you have any questions on letters or about setting up a column, send an e-mail to edop@poly.rpi.edu.

The other place we’re really looking for people is in the business department. We all like to say that The Poly is like a small business, and it’s true. With that, however, comes the need for staff to seek out advertising revenue. I’d like to see the paper grow and change, offering more to the community, but in order to do that we need the revenue to support it. If you’re looking for some real-life sales and marketing experience, or budgeting and other financial experience, check out Poly business by sending an e-mail to ads@poly.rpi.edu.