It has become a trend for the Echo to discuss the Community Digest of Civil Discourse through a fall editorial. It’s only natural that, as a student newspaper, the Echo seeks to foster important conversation and provide a platform in the Opinions section for the community’s thoughts. The Digest is a more immediate, daily and looser form of discussion.

The staff of the Echo encourages the use of the Digest as an important form of communication on the Hill. It’s a great way to voice our concerns to the community, air our complaints, share thought-provoking stories and connect as a campus in a meaningful way.

Last fall, when the Echo staff wrote an editorial entitled “Digesting Campus Issues” on Oct. 6, 2010, one of the major complaints was that “the College’s student body is not taking advantage of one of the most valuable tools for conversation we have at Colby: the Digest of Civil Discourse.”

Now, however, students and faculty alike are using the Discourse to promote clubs and events on campus—posts that are better suited for the General Announcements. When a forum dedicated to thoughtful discussion becomes cluttered with “Sp 127 JanPlan in Ecuador DEADLINE,” “Tennis Instructor Wanted” and “German Horror - Film Screening (Monday 9/12 @ 7pm),” the Digest can lose its power and poignancy; it becomes easier to miss thoughtful posts when they are mixed in with announcements.

This year—this weekend in particular—the Digest has started seeing some evocative and intelligent discussion. The Echo applauds those individuals who take the time and even work up the courage to engage the community in dialogue. Thank you. We hope to see more; and we hope that these commentaries are allowed their spotlight in the Digest, not to be mixed with or watered down by superfluous, out-of-place announcements. Out of respect for each other and our ideas, the staff of the Echo urges you to use the Digest, but in the capacity for which it was designed.

-The staff of The Colby Echo