TO THE EDITOR:

I am thrilled that Allison Nichols is thinking of her dim readers when considering columns.

When Ms. Nichols turned away Danny Randolph's column she cited a fear that the ""column might confuse readers about The Daily Tar Heel's purpose.""

As a faithful reader I think have a pretty good sense of the DTH's purpose to inform the community and serve as a forum for discussion.

Ms. Nichols wants to stay local and that is respectable. What is not respectable is censorship under the guise of editing for relevancy.

If Ms. Nichols is concerned with keeping the paper's coverage strictly local then this year's edition on 9/11 would be complete hypocrisy.

But it isn't hypocrisy because the events of 9/11 went beyond their immediate locations and had a tremendous impact on our whole nation.

It should be common sense for Ms. Nichols that the recent financial events go beyond Wall Street and affect the whole nation" even idyllic Chapel Hill.

Wachovia's solvency student loans and credit difficulties are all issues that affect the local readers of this local paper.

Throughout the semester Danny Randolph has written thoughtful and eloquent columns.

His strength of content has been head and shoulders above the other columnists and his censored column is no exception.

If Ms. Nichols is truly concerned about the strength of content or relevancy then there is a particular column on MTV I'd like to discuss.



Caroline Moakley

Junior

History