Opinion
 

New editor only part of long history

I may be the editor in chief of The Daily Cougar, but I can never claim the paper as my own. That distinction belongs only to you, the reader.

In 69 years, The Daily Cougar has been a relentless partner with, and champion for, UH students. Dozens of student editors have led an undertaking that has produced thousands of pages, tens of thousands of stories and literally millions of words. 

As a member of that class of leaders, I fear above all else that I might let down readers and, in so doing, fail the spirit that has driven the Cougar since 1934. That would be a bad thing.

While we serve to teach would-be journalists, our mission is to teach a much broader community -- the one in which we live and learn. Every day we answer questions and bring up new ones, prying the school and prying one another for insight. If we don't answer those questions, who will?

It's my intention that every day, you can pick up the paper and learn something. It's also my intention to push the paper to find new ways to teach, to provide more information and to cultivate strong, vibrant voices out of the cacophony of rants and gossip that floods the Internet and everyday conversation. 

I want to make you stop and take notice of something you didn't notice before and then, God forbid, think about it. 

You've already noticed some changes to how the paper looks and feels. They're refreshing, but they also make more sense to me. The Readers' Guide on Page 2 makes all of our contact information readily available. Give us a call sometime and let us know what you think about The Daily Cougar.

The redesigned Opinion page you're now looking at opens up more space for student opinions -- one of the most important functions of any good school newspaper. I hope you make good use of the opportunity. 

The whole idea is to make you look twice and remember one thing: today's paper is yours. 

Dulin is the editor in chief of The Daily Cougar for the spring semester. He can be reached at dcougar@mail.uh.edu.