The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/18/08 Section: Opinions

KRISTEN COULTER

While I'm filling out my Sudoku in the few minutes before class starts, I occasionally overhear conversations about that day's edition of The Red & Black.

"Did you see that mugshot," people ask.

"The Red & Black hates Greeks," some say.

"The Blackout was so cool," almost everyone agreed.

I appreciate every conversation I hear because it means people are reading what we have written. But sometimes I feel the urge to answer a rhetorical question or counter a stereotype.

Throughout the semester, I plan to answer your questions and explain who we are and what we do.

We have more than 100 people on staff, and almost everyone has different interests and priorities.

One of our editors is heavily involved in the honors program, another is involved in several multicultural clubs and I am Greek.

We have staffers from a variety of majors. As you might expect, we have journalism students, but we also have staff members who are studying business, political science, Spanish, English and physics.

We come together to put out a daily newspaper that aims to make our University better.

We want to celebrate the successes of students and shine a light on inconsistent actions taken by authority figures.

We love covering Georgia's athletic teams, clubs and social culture. We also take pride in the fact that the University changed its harassment policy following publication of Red & Black stories exposing professors who were found in violation of the original policy but faced limited punishment.

As a student publication, we are able to cover campus better than any other newspaper.

With our various sections, we hope to reach out to as many University students as possible.

If you feel that something needs to be covered, please e-mail me at editor@randb.com or our section editors at news@randb.com, sports@randb.com and variety@randb.com.

We create the paper to inform, entertain and sometimes challenge our readers to think deeper or differently about an issue.

This semester we are going to cover the breaking news events that we view as newsworthy.

You may disagree with what we decide to cover, and we expect that. After reading a story, if you feel strongly or want an explanation about why we made a specific decision, please get in touch with us.

E-mail me at editor@randb.com or Shannon Otto, our managing editor, at me@randb.com.

You can also read our editors' blog at redandblack.com, where we look forward to explaining the reasoning behind some of our more controversial decisions.

If you agree or disagree with us, please write a letter to the editor or a personal column. We always are eager to publishing your letters and columns in each issue of the paper.

These must be signed with your full name and a phone number where you can be reached. Letters should be about 150 words, and columns should span about 500 words.

We are excited about the prospect of having a candid, serious and real dialogue with you this semester.

Please don't just wonder why The Red & Black does something - ask us.

We're ready, willing and excited to hear from you.

- Kristen Coulter is the Editor in Chief of The Red & Black.

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