For a little over a month now, the College Republicans, College Democrats, and I have been trying to develop a debate column in the Editorial section that will allow each group to express its views on a particular political issue. Unfortunately, due to busy schedules, miscommunication, and small disagreements, the chances of this column succeeding and appearing in an upcoming Polytechnic are very slim.
In as much as the staff members like to consider it our baby, The Poly belongs to you, the readers. It is your newspaper; your database to keep informed and your weekly dose of Dave Barry and Dilbert. You are the audience that we cater to, and therefore it is your input that keeps the paper running.
We try to get as many people involved as possible, and this attempt at publishing a column is one of them. In order for us to remain a publication that represents all readers, we need input from our audience. This input can come in the form of a column, comic, cartoon, or just an e-mail of constructive criticism. There are many parts of The Poly besides reporting in which readers outside of the Editorial Board can participate without making a huge time commitment.
If you are interested in politics and want 300 words to express issues that are important to you every week, e-mail me. If you like to express your opinion about the workings on campus, e-mail me. If you only have one thing to talk about, you can always write a Letter to the Editor or a My View. Have a knack for finding the humor in everyday life and want to write a humor column? Want to start an advice column, even though your name isn’t Abby? E-mail features@poly.rpi.edu. See a good movie, read an interesting book, enjoy a new video game recently? Let others know how great or not so great it was by e-mailing a review to Features.
In no place is it written that the Personals section of Classifieds has to be a collection of quotes that only mean something to the staff. Have a small message you want to send to someone? Trying to find love and want to advertise yourself? E-mail Mel at notices@poly.rpi.edu. If you have a knack for drawing, submit a cartoon to EdOp or a comic to our Composing Department. Want to make word finds, cryptoquotes, crossword puzzles, or any other type of word game? E-mail comics@poly.rpi.edu. The ones you see on The Comics pages now are either made by the staff or a wire service. We would love to have fresh ideas.
As always, we are in need of reporters for news, sports, and features. There are many perks that go along with writing for The Poly such as free movie tickets, concert passes, and CDs. You get to meet the student athletes and travel to away games. There are so many opportunities with The Poly that don’t require a huge time commitment. Writing a humor column, making a word find, or drawing a comic once a week can be a nice break from homework.
There are opportunities available to anyone who is interested in giving a larger time commitment to The Poly. As always, we could use some proofreaders on Monday and Tuesday nights.
We are going to continue to try and get the political debate column, or something similar to it worked out, but it doesn’t have to be the only new addition to The Poly.
