As a new semester opens and students become re-accustomed to the daily University grind, some may notice a change in the look of the paper you hold in your hands.

We at the Oracle hope you, the reader, enjoy the changes to the print product, but we would also like to call your attention to the bigger – and possibly better – changes we’ve made in the ethereal world of cyber-space.

This semester marks the launch of the Oracle’s first full multimedia section.

In response to a nationwide change in the way people consume news, the Oracle will now feature regular video segments available online at usforacle.com These videos, along with staff-written blogs, will add clarity and depth to stories in a way previously not seen in the printed version.

The Web site will include imbedded links, online classifieds, increased student reaction and, most importantly, a place for your voice to be heard.

After all, the Oracle, as USF’s student newspaper, is reputedly the voice of the student body.

I, personally, remain skeptical.

A staff of around 50 students with majors in mass communications and art produces the Oracle. Granted, there is the occasional liberal art student (yours truly) but the majority of the campus’ brain trust is woefully

under-represented.

This is where you come in.

It seems that if you’ve made it this far (224 words) into reading something printed inside a

newspaper, you might be capable of forming rational strings of thought all your own.

There are a number of ways you can apply these nuggets of inspiration at the Oracle. First, easiest and most accessible, is participating in an online poll.

Second, if you can put your thoughts into words and would like to be heard, feel free to comment on any article online or write a letter to the editor.

Most importantly, if the drive to inform your peers and see your name in print dwells somewhere deep within your soul, come down to the deep, dark Oracle basement, and join the staff.

Being a student is the only requirement to become a writer, and the Oracle is actively seeking news, entertainment and sports writers, opinion columnists and copy editors.

You need not be a journalism student to exhibit a mastery of the English language.

If you are an engineering student, for example, breaking down the experimental new gizmo produced in the Center for Urban Transportation Research will be a bit easier for you than, say, a senior majoring in English and American literature.

If you are a political science major with an interesting slant on anything, the opinion section needs you.

If writing is not your thing but if you see something that makes you angry, happy or dumbfounded, or there is something you would like to know more about, go to our forum and tell us about it.

Joshua Neiderer is a senior majoring in English literature.