Tomorrow, the Editorial Board’s “SkeletonCrew” makes way for the new-and-improved, full-strength Ed.Board. Our new writers were individually recruited for theirwriting expertise and passion for intellectual discourse, and weshare a common goal of stimulating thought across campus.

Noticeable changes are occurring to the format of our column.First, we have abandoned the traditional notion that an editorialboard must reach a consensus opinion on its topics.

The results of such a constraint are dichotomously negative. Inone extreme scenario, the board is comprised solely ofideologically identical members, which results in an unacceptablelack of viewpoint and closed-mindedness. At the other extreme, adiverse group of thinkers forced to agree on issues is hamstrungand can express opinions only concerning the most obvious andunnecessary subjects. No one cares that “Ed. Board agrees:sunshine is good!”

To this end, topics in which a consensus opinion is not reachedshall be treated in a fashion similar to an appellate courtdecision. Our board members will take opposing stances, and themajority opinion will be presented alongside a dissenting opinion.The reader is left to decide which side (if either) presents a goodargument.

Also, in keeping with the court decision model, we will revealthe author of each opinion and those board members in agreement.However, members who are absent from a vote or wish to abstain arepermitted to do so. We see no honor in holding an opinion withoutopenly admitting so, and since the majority of us are notjournalism students, we laugh in the face of precedence.

However, assuming that a small, unelected group of writers canadequately represent every aspect of an issue is fallacious. Infact, our new format, while certainly an improvement, is notwithout its faults. Because of space constraints, we are presentingonly one majority and one dissenting opinion, which implicitlyassigns a duality to richly complex topics that have unlimitedpossibilities.

Therefore, active participation by the entire campus isnecessary for truly meaningful discourse. The opinion editorclamors for letters to the editor, so accept this invitation toexpress yourself and fill his mailbox on a daily basis. Of course,the online message board system is always available for comments,too.

We hope that you benefit from our efforts and join this greatpublic forum.