Who’s Editor of the Letters to the Editor Page? You Are.

“Let’s go get something to eat.””Where do you want to go?””Anywhere but Chic-Fil-A!”

Ever heard a conversation like that?

This one might surface somewhere near you one day:

“Did you know that I have to pay extra for tuition this year?””Really? It’s expensive enough. Why do you have to pay more?””Some surcharge because I’m over my hours limit! It’s ridiculous!”

Or what about this little dialog:

“What took you so long to get to class? Why are you late?””I was looking for a parking space. You never can find a good one.””Well, freshmen can’t even have cars at State!”

If you’ve ever heard a conversation like one of these, you might have wondered what you could do about some of the issues that students face. No matter what side of the conversation you’ve been on, these problems and others face everybody.

Despite the amount of complaining that one can hear on this campus, the Letters to the Editor page of the Western Carolinian is blank. It is, and has been for a while, very white, empty and sometimes non-existent.

The reason for this is unclear since everyone has something to complain about. Even if there were a reason it wouldn’t be a good one: it couldn’t be a good one.

If you think you’ll have to deal with a section editor, don’t worry: you are the editor. The only rules about letters are that they must be accompanied by the author’s name and the Carolinian won’t print strong four letter words. But we won’t get into that because good taste should dictate what “strong” means.

If you think that it’s hard to send a letter, you are very, very wrong! Printed copies of letters can be sent through campus mail, if you are faculty or staff, and to PO Box 66, Cullowhee NC, 28723.

If that still isn’t easy enough, send letters through e-mail to carolinian@wcu.edu. Or go to our website: www.westerncarolinian.com. Under the hypertext link for Letters to the Editor, you will find a field where letters can be submitted on-line. And most on-line letters get printed, too.

How easy is that?

If there are other reasons why it is so hard for you to submit a letter to the editor, then there is one easy solution: submit a letter to the editor and tell us what would make it easier for you.

The Letters to the Editor page, both on the website and in the print edition, is a place for readers of the Carolinian to voice their opinions. It is, in a sense, a public forum for anyone to express himself or herself about whatever concerns him/her.

Writing a guest editorial or column is hard, but you pay for this newspaper when you pay your fees, and so do we, but we decided work here and you did not. Nevertheless, you have a right to voice your opinion through your local newspaper, so drop us a line, or several lines.

It won’t only be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but perhaps the most influential as well.