Changes

It's been interesting to note the difference of opinions we've received since we announced our decision to retire the Globe Exchange. While some have said they were pleased to see it go, we've had others that have asked us to reconsider it, as they enjoyed the unvarnished, anonymous opinions.

We definitely appreciate the feedback we've received so far. Good and bad, it shows that people are reading our newspaper and personally involved with our features.

However, I've also had several other people ask me the "real" reason why we decided to get rid of the feature. At first I was a bit taken aback that someone might assume there was more to the story than we printed. However, it's human nature to question a controversial decision.

Despite that natural suspicion, the decision was entirely that of the editorial board for the reasons stated in the editorial we ran earlier this month.

For those who missed the editorial, our reasons for retiring Globe Exchange included:

Bigoted and racist comments.

A decreased number of comments.

Personal attacks

Profanity.

Due to these reasons, we felt the feature had simply run its course.

Again, we thank those who have given their input and ask that they continue to play a role in your newspaper either through letters to the editor or on our discussion boards, appearing below each story on the Web site. We encourage any and all to voice their opinions.

Take care.

-- Mark V.