At least nobody will accuse this year’s Herald staff of fading away.

As we reported yesterday, alleged mailbox pipe bomber Luke Helder brought national attention to the Herald after he mailed us a six-page manifesto Friday from Omaha, Neb. The letter, which we turned over to the FBI just hours before Helder surrendered in Nevada, launched the Herald onto the national stage, as America clambered for insight into the terrorist’s mind.

The entire episode brought back memories of last spring, when the Herald made national news by not caving to calls for censorship. Then, instead of receiving a terrorist’s manifesto, we received some 70 student protesters upset at our publication of a controversial advertisement. The Herald, exercising our First Amendment rights, stood firm in the face of the protests and won national attention for its position.

As the Herald’s managing editor last spring and the editor in chief this year, I was privileged to play an intimate part in both stories. I will remember both events as surreal experiences for both the Herald and me — I’ve experienced my 15 minutes of fame twice.

Yet, looking back, the amazing events of this week and last spring are not what stand out. Rather, what stands out is the nightly turmoil of producing a student newspaper without any university support or supervision. Every issue is an adventure — there are dozens of untold crises and late-night editorial decisions in our daily production.

After writing some 300 articles and editing thousands more during my three years at The Badger Herald, today’s issue is my final as an editor. In retrospect, I am most proud of the changes we’ve made that go unnoticed by most of our readers. This year we revamped our website and worked to make the Herald more digestible. As editor, my top priority was to bridge the divides exposed by last year’s protests — my proudest moment was printing a guest column by the Herald’s fiercest critic.

For me, publishing ideas I may disagree with encapsulates what The Badger Herald should be. At its base, this paper — like all newspapers — should be a public forum for a broad spectrum of ideas and debate. We do this by providing the most unbiased, balanced and accurate articles possible in our news section and insightful, opinionated commentary on our Opinion page. Of course, we then liven the forum with entertaining and critical sports, arts, comics and — of course — crosswords.

While most people at the Herald are journalism majors, I am not, nor do I have any intention of being a journalist after graduation. While I’ve enjoyed every minute here, I would rather make news rather than break news. Nevertheless, I leave this position with a tremendous amount of respect for journalists and their role in democracy.

I have a special admiration for my colleagues here at the Herald and our competitors at other student newspapers. Time and time again I’ve been amazed at the energy and care with which editors at The Badger Herald embrace their responsibilities as student journalists. I am indebted to them for all they have taught me about hard work, journalism and life.

I am similarly thankful to the readers who have made this experience possible. Public forums require an active audience — the daily interactions with readers are crucial in our ongoing effort to provide a diverse public forum. Regardless of who sits as editor — and I’m confident the Herald will be in good hands next fall — our success ultimately lies with our readers.

Thanks for reading.

Alexander Conant