Dear readers:

Welcome to the letters section of The Northern Star’s Issues pages. The beginning of a new semester seems an appropriate time to reiterate the purpose of this section and the required format of letters to the editor.

The letters section offers readers the chance to express their opinions on matters they believe are important. The Star editors try to set aside layout space for this important part of the newspaper as often as is possible.

Page six of the Star offers the opinions of the newspapers’ Editorial Board and columnists. The occasional columns printed from the Washington Post Writers Group, Health Enhancement Services and Student Legal Assistance provide more commentary. But the letters section is just as important as these opinion page elements in that it is set apart for public expression by any other interested writers.

Letters to the editor can be addressed to the editorial editor and must include the author’s name, title or year in school and academic major, address and phone number for verification and clarification. Anonymous letters will not be printed, but names may be witheld upon consideration by the Editorial Board.

Letters which are published will be edited for grammar and meeting space limitations. The Star also reserves the right to reject or substantially edit any letter which is libelous or otherwise unprintable.

The Editorial Board’s policy is to print all publishable letters received; however, this is not possible in every case. The volume of mail received and the limited print space available for this section prevent a number of letters every semester from getting published.

Providing a public forum for opinion is important to every newspaper, and the Star Editorial Board urges readers to take advantage of this opportunity to make themselves heard.

Sean Noble

editorial editor

The Northern Star