Welcome to our world

Hello. Welcome to the Opinion section of The Gonzaga Bulletin. This is the page where individuals voice their opinions to those who read this fine journalistic periodical.

It has come to our attention that many Bulletin readers do not appreciate some of our own personal opinions. This discovery has taken some time to reach us because it has had to travel through some nontraditional, less-than-bold paths to get here. The most common path such criticism travels is through the grapevine. People are unwilling to share their dislike for our pieces to our faces, but have no problem slinging insults our way from the comfort of their own friend group, even if that friend group involves other Bulletin editors. The funny thing about Gonzaga is that it is a very small university -— word travels fast.

Our next favorite form of criticism is through enlightening, anonymous online comments. We wouldn't dare ask anyone to divulge their true identity associating their name with a comment on The Gonzaga Bulletin website. And we assuredly wouldn't even think of asking anyone to actually submit an opinion article of their own, complete with name, grade and (gasp) picture published with it on Thursday.

Completing either of these options is not very difficult (especially if two "indignant," "ignorant," "angsty" guys who "need to grow up a little" can do it once per week), and both are much more productive than sitting around with your friends whining about how close-minded those damn Opinion editors are. There shouldn't be any question as to how to submit your work as there are multiple ads in each paper describing the process each week. Because of this, we are not sure how seriously to take any criticism that is not approached as prescribed in those ads. If you do not feel the need to make your voice heard, then you either don't have the courage to claim your opinion in a public setting or you don't care enough to take the time to do so. If either of these is the case, it doesn't seem worth our time and energy to worry about it.

It is in the nature of the Opinion sections to relay on-campus opinions. Due to our positions as editors, we are required to produce an opinion article for every edition of The Bulletin. We are sorry that our opinions aren't in line with every person's at this wonderful institution. We also apologize that our opinions aren't always 100 percent neutral — meaning that they will likely enrage 50 percent or more of our readership. Just think of some of the articles we could have produced if we maintained strict neutrality: Instead of writing "Four years of a major problem" we could have written "Four years of major contemplation," 700 words about how every bit of knowledge gained is a gift to be loved and cherished. Or instead of writing "Here's a tip" about the flaws in our societal system of tipping, we could have argued "Everyone deserves a tip," half a page about our insights on how we should all tip the standard 15 percent at restaurants without exception. Just think of the intellectual discourse and constructive argumentation that would have followed had we written these uncontroversial articles.

But therein lies the beauty of the Opinion section. It is controversial. When so much of this world has been standardized, homogenized and politically corrected, there is still one place where we can go to escape the repetitiveness of the countless ordinary and polite encounters that constitute our mundane existence. So here's to you, liberal arts majors. And you, PETA lovers. And you, Sodexo. And you, Facebook creepers. And you, Wall Street occupiers. And you, GSBA. And you, professors who personally attack us in your classes but don't write to us. And you, Gonzaga University Student Life.

But most of all, this is for you, the Bulldog faithful who pick up The Bulletin and flip to the back to read our rants and who realize what the Opinion page is all about. So pick up your big stick, just be yourself, and tell us what you believe, because until Dr. McCulloh himself brings the smackdown on us, our striking photos are sure as hell going to reappear above our well-informed opinions next week and for many weeks to come.

Tell us how you really feel ...

John and Tony find their favorite online comments from anonymous contributors and respond

From: "Four years of a major problem"

"Seriously, I have 2 opinions.

1) The Bulletin is attempting to inflame the public to increase the amount of opinion articles that flow into their inbox. If this is true, it is the most pervasive tactic ever.

2) You guys, as posted before, truly suck; ie., you are terribly opinionated and because of this should not be writing articles which seem to be steeped in fact. All in all, this makes the writers seem both indignant of actual degrees (Sports Management, really?) or just plain unaware of the world outside their dorms."

JG/TD:Seriously, we have 2 responses.