Thank you for publicizing the Orange and Blue Observer, the only conservative and libertarian newspaper on campus, in your recent editorial cartoon (Dane Gaydos, 11/1). We were beginning to worry that we were not as influential on campus as we once were; fortunately you have proven us wrong.

Oddly enough, your editorial cartoon portrays our organization perfectly. The Orange and Blue Observer wants to ‘blast’ our readers with alternative news and opinions that they would not usually be exposed to.

Our goal is to present factual information and informed opinions that challenge the status quo promulgated by the Daily Illini and the University’s faculty and professors.

On the other hand, The Daily Illini prints a paper based on a faded template that might as well have been written by the College Democrats. Nobody bothers to question the administration; nobody challenges controversial groups like STOP; nobody offers anything more than a ‘token’ conservative or libertarian opinion. Instead, the DI cranks out pages of biased news, puff pieces and editorials that toe the same old partisan line on every issue.

We often find that our opponents try to stifle healthy debate by name-calling. Instead of taking up the issues and considering truly diverse points of view, they brandish words like ‘bigot’ and ‘hatemonger’ in hopes of shutting us down without an argument. While this may seem like a convenient way to silence your opponent, it is an unacceptable method in the arena of ideas – yet it is exactly what the Daily Illini has done to us.

While we thank you for the free publicity, we would hope that in the future the Daily Illini would choose to focus on the issues instead of attacking the people who hold them. When that happens, this University will finally begin to shed its jaded obsession with phony ‘diversity’ and instead consider a real cross-section of student viewpoints.

Erin Jones, Editor-in-Chief

The Orange and Blue Observer Editorial Staff