Occasionally, one piece of writing in the Daily Kent Stater sends shockwaves through the campus community. Some rise up in support, some in anger and others sit on the sidelines and watch the drama unfold.

Beth Rankin did it last spring with “I am not a white bitch,” and Stephen Ontko started some heated conversations in the fall with “Strengthening marriage was an Election Day victory.”

Conversations sometimes arose that should have long ago. Other conversations – particularly on our Web site, KentNewsNet.com – shouldn’t have taken place at all. When those conversations turn ugly and particularly hateful, as they sometimes do on our Web site, we need to refocus our ideas and the conclusion we’d like to reach.

In the end, all we want is a civil and productive dialogue. That’s the mission of this newspaper.

We’re looking for people who have something to say. We’re looking for people who might disagree with us. Petty insults and threats aren’t productive ways of communicating your disagreement. Honest statements are.

Opposing ideas are the forces that drive our democracy. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if you picked up the paper each day and only read stories, columns and editorials you agreed with. We try our best to make this paper the voice of the Kent State community, and the only way we can do this is by spreading differing viewpoints.

On this page we have people’s viewpoints that range from the far left to the far right to those writers whose political views are as complex as a strand of DNA.

And of course, the hundred or so staff members at the Stater aren’t the only people whose voices we want in this paper or on our Web site.

We want to hear from you.

Send letters to the editor and story ideas to [email protected]. Sound off on the day’s stories, columns and editorials at KentNewsNet.com. Call the newsroom (330-672-2586) and ask to speak with an editor.

This paper carries a certain weight with it on campus. Letters, columns, editorials, news stories and even comments at KentNewsNet.com have the potential to make a significant change (or chaos) on this campus. Don’t just put this burden on our shoulders. Help us out.

We all see the world a little differently. And every day you pick up this paper or visit our Web site, we hope you get a taste of what it’s like to be somebody else.

And if you feel your point of view or your story isn’t printed in our paper, make some noise. We’ll listen.

Timothy Magaw is a senior newspaper journalism major and editor of the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected] or at 330-672-2586.