The opinions section is the heart of the newspaper.

The decisions being made now, whether they concern issues far away in the Middle East or right here on campus, will impact our generation more than any other.

We will be the ones living with the consequences of irresponsible credit practices, conflicts overseas, a deteriorating natural environment and the most sharply polarized Congress in the history of the nation. It is our responsibility to intelligently discuss these issues from a student’s perspective.

Our job is to hold officials accountable. Our columnists will dig deeper and uncover issues that otherwise may go unnoticed at the UA and in the surrounding Tucson community. This is our commitment to you.

Yes, we will do our research and yes, we will consult expert sources before publishing our columns, but we won’t always be right. Complex issues never have one, clear answer, and sometimes we might leave things out — things that are important to you and the topic at hand.

The beauty of this section is that you don’t always have to agree with us. The opinions section does not claim to report the news without a bias or slant; all we claim is that these issues matter and need to be discussed.

Randy Patrick, a former reporter for the Associated Press, wrote, “Local journalism — whether it’s straight reporting or commentary — is supposed to be a dialogue with one’s readers.”

We are your local community newspaper, and we want to have a dialogue with you. Our goal is to spark readers’ interest and provide a platform for intelligent discussion.

If you think we got an issue all wrong, send me an email or leave a comment. If you think we were spot on, we want to know that, too. If you think we’re failing to cover an important topic, let us know or send us a guest column.

We not only want to hear from you, but we want the entire university to have the opportunity to hear from you. The opinions section thrives on dialogue and debate, and I will publish your letters to the editor and your interesting, thoughtful comments.

In our first publication of the semester, we committed to being a paper you want to read. We don’t just want you to read our content, though. We want to provide a spot in the paper where your opinion matters as much as the opinions of our columnists.

Nathaniel Drake is the opinions editor. Follow him on Twitter.com/nsdrake.