Whither goest Letters to the Editor?

February 5, 2007

Dear Mr. Cooney:

Thank you for your letter and response to my concerns about the letters-to-the-editor policy in OnCampus. I have discussed this matter with some of my colleagues, including Dr. Gerald Osborn, who has co-signed this letter.

This issue is potentially rather larger than the letter I (Dr. Pattison) wished to have published originally in December. It has to do with providing a medium to air issues of interest and concern to the university community—more than just airing disputes.

The issue boils down to whether OnCampus is truly a university newspaper. In its previous incarnation as The Gazette, and up until last year to a degree as OnCampus, it was a newspaper in the normal sense, in that it contained a “letters to the editor” section in which letters covering diverse topics were published. It fulfilled a valuable service to the university community by allowing issues to be aired outside of the sometimes stultifying “normal channels,” or in situations in which “normal channels” did not seem to be effective or responsive. It allowed members of the university community to be aware of issues they might otherwise not know about. It also made interesting reading.

In other words, it provided a forum for ideas and issues—seemingly the hallmark of a university.

Returning to the topic of my (Dr. Pattison’s ) Dec. 1 letter, there can be no doubt that USRI evaluation is a topic of broad concern to all members of the university community. We and others have expressed the concerns raised in the letter through normal feedback channels, sometimes with no response. In these circumstances, it seems justifiable to throw the issue out to the wider community.

In your letter, you suggested that there will be an online forum added to the U of C news and events page. This goes some way towards addressing the issue of providing a university-sponsored medium for exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

However, in our opinion, it is unlikely that very many people will take the time to go to such a forum. We thus consider this ultimately to be an unsatisfactory substitute for having letters printed in a paper copy of a newspaper such as OnCampus. Reading a newspaper over coffee or lunch, or between classes, is a break from most people’s online or classroom lives. That is when OnCampus (and The Gauntlet) is mostly read, and therefore when the content (including letters) should be available.

Has the decision to eliminate letters to the editor in OnCampus and replace it with an online forum been communicated broadly to the university community, and feedback invited? If feedback is invited, how will it be publicly communicated to the community?

Yours sincerely,
Dr. David Pattison
Dr. Gerald Osborn