As many of you now know, I am the opinion editor for The Shield. I really enjoy my job and like helping people make their writing the best that it can be.

What is even more awesome is that I am still learning. So sometimes the writers teach me instead of the other way around.

There are a couple of things that truly irritate me about my job though, so I am addressing a couple of them here.

You can’t please everybody, and to try and do so is an ignorant goal. So when people write in or walk into the office to complain about how another person’s opinion has no validity, it makes me angry.

Everyone has a right to their opinion!

You don’t have to agree with it. You don’t even have to respect it; however, there is a better way to conduct yourself rather than looking like a complete jerk.

There has also been some criticism of the use of profanity within the opinion section. I do not believe in censoring my writers.

I will not allow them to use profanity a lot throughout their articles, however, I will allow them to use it occasionally to drive home a point. Those words pack power and there is a reason that they grab the reader’s attention.

If they do not take away from the point of the article, there is no reason to omit or change them. I believe in leaving a writer’s voice as it is.

A new column has also found its way to my section this semester. It is called “What the F#©k.”

This column is written by a different person each week and deals with those moments in life that leave a person confused and irritated. Those “WTF!” moments that everyone occasionally has.

The name is pushing the envelope a bit, however, that is the very point.

Sure, I could have chosen to title it “WTF” or “What the F,” but it simply does not have the same impact and attention grabbing ability as “What the F#©k.”

Furthermore, it shows that an edgy, fun column can exist and still be in good taste.

I will also be the first to admit that our paper has typos. I will also be the first to admit that it is not ideal, however, we are a student newspaper.

We are in college to learn and work here to gain experience. We are going to make mistakes. That’s just part of the learning process.

Continue to point out our errors, but remember that we are in fact students the next time you go to be unnecessarily cruel in your criticisms.

The point of a newspaper’s opinion section is to provide a common place for people to share their opinions. To censor anyone’s voice or to say that their opinion has no validity is contradictory to the very purpose of the section.

So here’s some advice from a nerdy opinion editor: voice your opinion (it is yours after all), but understand that you are not the only one that has value. Voice your opinion, but do it intelligently.