Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Letter to the editor: Stop asking for opinion pieces

By: Alex Hernandez

Economics sophomore

After constantly being harassed by you, I have succumbed to your request and will give you my opinion.

My dear editor, unlike what you might think, the majority of us students do not appreciate it when you harass us to get “an opinion” just to meet your weekly quota.

Now aside from the fact you are making us uncomfortable (which should be more than enough to stop), you’re also jeopardizing student life and the integrity of journalism itself.

First of all, pressuring students to do this cheap labor is not only EXTREMELY ANNOYING but also endangers the student’s life, which could lead to serious detriments to our mental health.

Students do not only have fully packed class schedules, but most of us also have jobs, internships or extracurricular commitments.

We cannot also forget the time needed for studying for our classes, eating, sleeping and basic hygiene needs. If you could not tell, students really cannot afford to add more on their plate without disrupting the balance of their lives and causing more stress.

You asking students for an opinion piece is a disruption to our lives and the stress of meeting a deadline for something you don’t want to do.

The point of an opinion piece is that one genuinely has a strong opinion on an issue. This means that time has been taken to research various arguments and consider each position thoroughly before adopting a side.

By constantly asking students to put forth strong opinions, you, are not allowing for this process to happen naturally. As a result, the pieces printed do not actually reflect the passions of the students, but rather, whatever they could invent at the time to fill space in the paper. As such, the validity of the opinion pieces is to be called into question.

If you seriously want the students to give their opinions, you should let students come to them on their own.

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  • B

    Billy TaltyNov 16, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    As a graduate student (College of Law), my only interaction with The Maroon has been on Facebook, or through the publication every few weeks.

    It’s not plastered all over the place. I don’t think I have ever received an email from the editors or have seen a flier encouraging opinion pieces.

    Maybe the environment is different over on campus, but it sounds like there is a bit of hyperbole in play here.

    Even if there were emails and fliers, I don’t think that raises to the level of harassment that you have painted here. Unless there is evidence that you have been woken up at night by The Maroon calling to you in sultry voice, begging you for opinion, it may be exaggeration on your part.

    And stating that your life is in danger because of pressure to write an opinion piece? Come on. That lacks correlation and causation (you should learn those terms as an Economics major).

    Even if some student’s have life schedules too hectic to contribute to a newspaper, I doubt it is the intention of The Maroon to force or shame those individuals into contributing.

    And as you demonstrated in your second point, it is not wise to share an unresesearched and bias opinion, but it has certainly got a healthy discussion going, and maybe it was therapeutic for you to blow off some steam in that way?

    Best of luck in your future endeavors.

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  • G

    Gage CountsNov 14, 2017 at 11:36 am

    As a former OpEd Editor from The Maroon, lay off it. You should feel proud that someone considered your opinion valuable enough to ask for it, though the reason why eludes me. Students ask each other for help on projects and assignments all the time, and to behave this uncharitably toward the current OpEd Editor is pretty embarrassing.

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