Welcome back to the often coherent, occasionally irreverent and always relevant opinion section. If you’re reading this, you are returning to the most talked about page of the Herald. On this page, arguments, some eloquent and others brazen, are put forth in columns. On this page, editorials break down current events for easy digestion in the student body. On this page, letters to the editor express their dissent with the decree of the Herald. It is here where we opine on student affairs, local and state governments, as well as national issues, and it is here where we get torn a new one online for doing so.

There has been debate over which way The Badger Herald opinion page swings on the political spectrum. The truth of the matter is that our position is not fixed: It depends entirely on the stance of those who volunteer to write for us. We print the views of our writers, not the views of the Herald as a collective except in clearly marked editorials. When evaluating applicants, we look to writing skill and not to political allegiance. If you feel there is a bias in the page, we encourage you to join our staff and correct it. If you feel we don’t express your views well, enough, or at all, we invite you to throw your hat into the ring.

There are several ways to make your voice heard through the Herald. The most popular and most passive way is to comment online on individual columns or editorials. If your beef is too large to fit in a one-paragraph online rant, we invite you to submit a Letter to the Editor to be published on our page. Maybe you think you have a valuable perspective on an important topic that has been left wanting of public discussion.

We also accept guest columns, and greatly appreciate the diversity of opinion they bring. If you are so completely incensed with our page that neither a comment, Letter to the Editor, nor guest column will satisfy you, become a writer. Your views will be presented to the entire student body and beyond, and the opportunity to challenge the Herald for all its senseless libel will be yours.

To temporarily break with the levity, we must admit that our usually flippant attitude has been sobered. The tragic events in Arizona over break have given prominent voices all over the country a moment of pause to reflect on the potential impact of their words and the role they play in how we relate to each other. We have not excepted ourselves from this opportunity.

We will continue to unapologetically agitate, bloviate and instigate, but will strive to do so in a way consistent with what we hope to be a national appeal to civility in political discourse.

This doesn’t mean we won’t occasionally offend more sensitive readers. We will avoid calling for public hangings or campus-wide bullying campaigns. But we expect readers to recognize rancorous wit for what it is: an effort to bring entertaining and enlightening commentary to the usual arid reports of the preceding pages.

Joking that “Scott Walker should be bludgeoned with a burning brown paper bag filled with Ayn Rand novels” is not equivalent to telling a crowd of gun-toting, heedless Tea Partiers to “Lock and Load.” We expect a certain degree of intellectual prowess from our readers, and we expect you to recognize such differences.

In the Internet age, when anyone with a modem is a potential publisher, we also hope readers will strive to bring the same level of civility we expect of ourselves to the online comment section. We value the vibrancy of debate allowed by the ability to comment anonymously and implore our readers to join us in revisiting the power of words, especially as they exist in an online world where their potential reach is limitless.

While the reach of our words may be boundless, the focus of our endeavors are not. As the opinion editors of the University of Wisconsin’s premiere student daily, our primary obligation is to our readers and our community. In serving as the major community public forum we strive to provide readers with opinions on topics relevant to campus and the downtown area to spark the process of bringing their own to the table.

So, we venture forward, and every brilliant point, bold statement and less-than-inspiring conclusion is made with this goal in mind. Welcome to the page Badgers, we look forward to you accompanying us on our sometimes roundabout journey to productive open discourse.

If you’re interested in writing for the opinion section, stop by one of the two new writers’ meetings, Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. at the Herald office, 326 W. Gorham St.