The state of American political discourse has become a matter of heated debate. With liberals and conservatives decrying personal attacks from opponents in an increasingly polarized political climate, reasonable issue-oriented debate has suffered. Many outlets of the news media have proven susceptible to this new order of political scorekeeping: measuring the validity of arguments by their adherence to newly released opinion polls and skillful deployment of newly minted partisan buzzwords.

The Badger Herald editorial page will not fall victim to these sideshows. This page will represent the perspectives of UW students. Our pledge to refuse to be loyalists to an ideology is both a journalistic standard and a reflection of the simple truth that no ideology is worth our loyalty. We will challenge you by challenging ourselves and give you ample opportunities not just for feedback, but for discussion with the writers we believe represent the diverse views of this campus.

This page will be infused with an investigative spirit and will strive to give equal voice to every side of every issue. This philosophy will characterize the Badger Herald editorial page: well researched political bias in which the strongest parts of opposing arguments are addressed. We will view issues through a local lens, with a focus on how rhetoric and policy impacts the UW community. Thus, we will directly contact newsmakers as often as possible, making our pieces strikingly insightful.

We will be consumed by a desire to offer relevant debate, continually asking of ourselves: Is it important to cover this issue in a campus newspaper? Why?

By publishing relevant material, we will safeguard the integrity of our page and remain a vital source of news analysis. This may be local news, but it's not local TV news. That means no Facebook or MySpace horror stories, nor will we be covering the ongoing coastie-sconnie feud.

We recognize the daunting nature of any opinion page — filled with topics that many of you may not fully understand in language that is often hard to sift through. We pledge to try to help you decipher the columns printed in our section, and hope to make opinion readers out of each and every one of you.

While most of the topics we cover can also be found in other sections like news, we are the only section that will offer analysis of the issues from all sides, explaining why something is important and why you should care. If you feel that we have failed to do so, we urge you to contact us and write about it. If you have something to say, we want to be your outlet.

We will push you in the sincere hope that you will push back, creating a lively marketplace of ideas where educated citizens can find those with the most merit and dismiss the inconsequential, the unimaginative, and the ridiculous.

In all of this, we will insist on an exchange of views that is spirited, yet civil. It is not permissible to reduce arguments to personal attacks or name-calling. We intend to give more than lip service to the old idea of respect for contrasting opinions and people, whatever their views may be.

Above all, we will not be afraid of being proven wrong; it is better to cede to a superior argument than bear responsibility for the consequences of potentially disastrous policies.

I cannot promise you that we will find the truth in any of the matters taken up by this page, but we will give you a chance to find it yourself.