Carla Wintersgill
Editor-in-Chief
Full disclosure: The Eyeopener receives $14.27 in funding from every Ryerson student. That’s a good chunk of change.
That’s the price of admission at AMC, or a good Salad King meal. Last week we featured an in-depth CKLN story, lamenting the fact that the amount of student funding was increasing for what appears to be a mostly dysfunctional institution.
We get more money from students than CKLN does. A good five bucks more. But I like to think that it’s going to better place.
Except for five staffers (three of whom are former Ryerson students), the masthead is made up of current Ryerson students. Each week, at least a dozen more students contribute in some way.
And the goal of our coverage is always the same: to write about issues and ideas that affect Ryerson students. But we can’t do it without student feedback.
This week’s letters section is a little lacking. Only two students were inspired to write in. We may control what goes into our paper, but it doesn’t mean that you have to agree. Tell us when you don’t like something and tell us when you do.
We also want to hear what’s on your mind in general.
This year at The Eyeopener, we want to try something a little different — an expanded opinions section.
This won’t replace our letters to the editor, which is a forum to respond to and debate articles we run. Instead, the opinions section is a place to present ideas and viewpoints that don’t always get coverage in our paper.
Why? Well, The Eyeopener’s first loyalty is to students. This loyalty has mainly come in the form of questioning and reporting administrative actions to ensure students’ best interests. But in the endless quest for fresh stories, sometimes good ideas get left in the dust for lack of newsworthiness.
To truly be the voice of Ryerson students, we need to have a place for community members to express their opinions.
We’re looking for strong arguments, original opinions and clear writing.
So maybe there is something you want to get off your chest and into print. Here’s how to do it:
— Send all submissions to editor-in-chief Carla Wintersgill at editor@theeyeopener.com.
— Please include your full name, the organization (if any) that you belong to and a contact number. Anonymous editorials will not be considered.
— Aim for about 500 words. Shorter is fine; longer is boring. If you send an opus, we will ask you to cut back a little.
— Transparency is key. Readers have a right to know if our writers have a financial or professional interest in their subjects. It’s fine if John Smith writes a column insisting that Ryerson throw away all of its PC computers, as long as we can identify him as the owner of a Mac store.
— Although The Eyeopener is committed to freedom of expression, editorials that advocate genocide, publicly incite hatred or willfully promote hatred against an identifiable group will not be published. Sorry, haters. You’ll just have to stick to Stormfront.
So please write. We want to earn our $14.27.
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Full disclosure two: This week we have a story about Ryerson Campus Life blogger Dan Lytwyn. Later on in the week, the Eyeopener will be featured on the Campus Life blog.
This is a coincidence.
Originally, we passed on this story because Lytwyn is a paid Ryerson employee and potential administrative mouthpiece. But we picked it up again when we realized that it was still an interesting story that the university was trying new media to reach out for students.
For the full story on Lytwyn, check out page 11.
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A must read is Tyler Harper’s story about Yonge Street’s seedy past. As someone who can remember Ryerson pre-Toronto Life Square, I’ve always been fascinated by the contradiction of higher learner and base urges.
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