Fall Semester 2011. It could be good, it could be bad and at times, it will most certainly be ugly. That’s where we come in. Welcome, or welcome back, to the Opinion page – the place where we put all of the above in perspective.

Protests the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the ’60s? We had a few opinions about it. Our chancellor quitting at a time that she herself said would be bad? Yeah, we had something to say. The ushering in of a new political era in Wisconsin? We argued about that, too. And that was just spring 2011.

It’s impossible to predict the future, but one thing that’s certain is that people will always have opinions. We just happen to be the place to voice them. In our columns, in our Editorial Board statements, in our Letters to the Editor and even in our online comments board, college students just like you have found an outlet to say what they think.

Or maybe you’ve found they aren’t just like you. Perhaps your voice is completely unrepresented on our page; be the one to change that. As an Opinion page with volunteer writers, we can only publish what they write. If you think we’re biased one way or another, we wholeheartedly encourage you to balance our content.

Whether you want to submit a guest column challenging a column, a Letter to the Editor disagreeing with an Ed Board or if you want to do students like you a favor and become a columnist, feel free to email [email protected]. We’ll let you know how to get involved.

This semester we are also trying to take the issue of balance into our own hands. We are inviting members of all student organizations to get involved in the page. We want readers to know how the opinion of someone in College Republicans compares with someone in Environmental Club, how someone in Sex Out Loud differs from someone in Badger Catholic, or if someone in Wisconsin Alumni Student Board agrees with someone in the Associated Students of Madison. There are dozens of student orgs on campus representing nearly all of the student body. We want to give all of them a chance to have their opinions heard by their peers.

This is just one of the changes we will be attempting to make this semester to create a page that students can rely on for the news – digested. It is our goal to be a truly valuable resource on campus, but we will need your help to do so. We welcome any suggestions you may have to improve the page, as it is you we want to serve.

So keep reading our page, check us out at www.badgerherald.com/opinion, and shoot us an email if you want to get involved or make a suggestion. It’s going to be an interesting semester. We hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Allegra Dimperio,

Opinion Editor