Letter to our Readers: Submissions from the community are important

Dear Reader,

We’ve done it: Fall quarter is finally within reach.

Before we know it, students will be immersing themselves in campus activities and organizations, lamenting the perils of the quarter system and living the daily Bruin life. Staff will return to providing for the campus’ nearly 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and administrators will continue reminding us of the greatness beheld in the top public university in the nation.

But, if this sounds too warm and fuzzy for your liking, your suspicions aren’t misplaced.

UCLA boasts an impressive conglomerate of students, staff and faculty, but you would be mistaken to think Westwood’s crown jewel is a big happy family bereft of any rifts.

Increased costs of tuition and course materials pit students and parents against departments. UCLA’s laborers and administrators perpetually fight over meeting workers’ demands versus addressing the university’s need to economize its processes. And students – and even faculty – continue to squabble over differing political beliefs.

As the Daily Bruin’s Opinion editor, I’m well aware that the Daily Bruin’s Opinion columns have a role to play in these disagreements. The duty of the Opinion page, after all, is to draw attention to important issues on campus, introduce unique perspectives and analyze events that are relevant to Bruins.

These arguments are inspired by the need for conversation on campus. UCLA is by no means a perfect place, but we are made a more inclusive community by encouraging differences of opinion and letting each other argue our convictions. And it’s the job of the Daily Bruin’s Opinion section to enable and foster that discussion.

Of course, we’re not always going to get it right, and we might not always cover every issue relevant to students. That’s where you come in. As members of the UCLA community, you can respond to our coverage by writing letters to the editor, or present your thoughts about campus events by sending in submissions.

Regardless of your position on President Donald Trump’s election, whether you think the University of California should exclusively serve Californians or whether you believe UCLA should increase workers’ wages, we want to hear from you. Send us an email at opinion@dailybruin.com, visit us at dailybruin.com/submit or even just stop by our office in 118 Kerckhoff Hall.

We’ve told the stories and shared the viewpoints of Bruins for almost 100 years. As the only daily paper that focuses exclusively on issues pertinent to UCLA, we have an obligation to engage the community we cover. And we can’t do that without, well, you.

Sincerely,

Keshav Tadimeti
Opinion editor