"The Daily is unique in its ability to describe, discuss and debate before the entire University community its individual and collective activities and problems."

Fittingly, those words appeared in an editorial on Sep. 16, 1957, the first day that The Michigan Daily began stating on the front page how many years of editorial freedom this paper has enjoyed. These two ideas - the role of the Daily as a forum for critical debate and the notion of editorial freedom - are inseparable and reinforcing. And nowhere are they more important than on this editorial page. However, maintaining the Daily as a voice for students and an open forum for debate is only possible when there are commitments from both the Daily and from students - both of which must be reinvigorated in the upcoming year.

There are many sides to this commitment. Unapologetically, this page's first and foremost responsibility is to students. Before we cover regional, national or international issues, we give preference to the issues that directly affect this university and the lives of those on campus. The Daily is not a national newspaper like The Washington Post or The New York Times, and students deserve a newspaper that reflects their unique circumstances and concerns. If we don't cover these issues, few, if any, newspapers will.

However, this page has a responsibility to do more than just mirror the obvious arguments. While we reflect on the issues important to students, we should also drive the debate toward the areas we think are important but overlooked. In both duties, it is our obligation to challenge readers to critically evaluate and reevaluate the world around them. Some people call the results from our thinking liberal; some call it progressive. Unfortunately, these are only vague labels that have come to define the Daily and keep many from accepting our most important overarching ideology developed over 118 years: Complacency is not acceptable. This ideology transcends labels.

On our campus and in society, there are some principles that must be upheld. Equality. Free speech. Checks on excessive power. Tolerance. These are more than buzz words and require more than a vague commitment. We won't compromise these values and we expect the University administration, our government and our society to hold to a similar commitment.

When you as a reader feel that we have gotten something wrong it is your responsibility to engage in the debate. This can be as simple as writing a letter to the editor or writing a longer viewpoint. It can also mean that you join us at our editorial board meetings. In either case, we will make sure that all relevant sides of a debate are heard, whether they are contrary to the Daily's views or not.

As editorial page editor, I will be aggressive in facilitating this input. Unlike the Daily's news section, the opinion section offers an opportunity for student groups to write about the issues they care about even if these issues are not front-page news. If any group or person thinks an important issue is not being covered fairly, the opinion page is the place to express this. Unless this exchange occurs, both parties are partly at fault.

For 118 years the Daily has enjoyed editorial freedom. This freedom is only possible because of our vigilance and the engagement of students. One does not function without the other.

Gary Graca

Editorial Page Editor