We want to hear your voice

The yellow rays of summer are melting into cream and crimson. No matter what brought you to IU, be it car, plane, parachute, hamster ball or just being a native, we're excited that you're here. \nThe fish in Showalter Fountain are spouting as the lines at the bookstores are lengthening -- all in honor of welcoming you to campus. As we start a new year at a University with rich tradition, we're glad to offer you one tradition that gives you a voice: the student-run newspaper.\nAs students roll into Bloomington like a human tidal wave, the student journalists at the Indiana Daily Student have been ceremoniously released from their cages to produce the brand spankin' new first issue of this semester's paper. \nAmidst the flurry of words, news and photos, you'll find a page that's different from the rest -- the opinion page. The start of the semester brings you an opinion page that's so fresh and so clean, clean. This page's main purpose is to inform, entertain and make you scratch your head and say, "Hmm." We want to get you thinking about the issues that affect you. Every page of the IDS is written and designed with you -- the reader -- in mind.\nWhile the IDS has always been your paper (run by students for students) the opinion page is your page. Thursdays you'll find a rip-roaring opinion extravaganza where we publish your letters in the Jordan River Forum. We want your letters to flood into our e-mail inbox like the mighty river that bears the forum's name. If an article or column made you boil with anger or dance with glee, we want to know. If you have a message for the IU community, e-mail a letter to letters@indiana.edu. We love mail. Hate mail, fan mail, love letters -- bring it on. This is your chance to get the word out on what you think.\nThe opinion page, much like Dracula, is in search of new blood. We're in the process of hiring passionate writers and talented artists. If you fall into that category, the opinion desk wants you! We are now taking applications for columnists and cartoonists until Sept. 2. Visit http://www.idsnews.com/fallopinion for an application.\nYour loyal opinion page is here to serve you as you stroll down campus's wooded paths, stumble down Kirkwood Avenue, scream in Assembly Hall, take naps in the Union, and stay up all night cramming for tests and writing papers. Welcome back to the books and we look forward to hearing from you.