The Opinion page is a hungry beast, and without you, it would be nothing.

It dwells here in the middle of the Daily Nexus, five days a week, ranging from an anorexic to a plump four-page spread. It is your charge, fledgling readers, to keep the beast well-fed.

You’ll find a few columnists here and there, some fantastic artwork and editorial cartoons, and an occasional surprise to add a little sunlight to your day, but 90 percent of this monster’s diet comes from your submissions.

This is a creature of free thought and discussion, where members of the community write in and duke out the weighty issues of the day.

Feed it well and it will treat you to much fare for those boring lectures, 10-minute break periods or those time-consuming trials on the porcelain throne. It all depends on how much ink and paper you’re willing to dump in the monster’s trough.

There are few requirements for submissions to the page, and you can check the editorial policy printed across the top of the Opinion page every day for rules pertaining to length and style. The Opinion page will not print anything with gross factual errors or outright slander for slander’s sake. All submissions become the property of the Opinion editor and the Daily Nexus.

Most importantly, and what most people seem to forget, the Daily Nexus does not endorse, with two exceptions, any of the columns or letters printed on the Opinion page.

The first exception is the staff editorial, appearing on the page every once in a while in a box just like this one. Staff editorials represent the opinion of the staff, as determined during an editorial board meeting consisting of anyone in the staff box on page two. Once the board reaches a consensus, the Opinion editor writes up the staff editorial for your consumption on the following day.

The second exception are our election endorsements, in which, in a process similar to that of an editorial board, the Nexus staff picks its choices for national, state, local and student government offices and offers its views on ballot measures.

This is your forum, which means you stand alone here on your opinions and ideas.

If you possess a rudimentary grasp of grammar and the English language, then the beast will find your submissions a tantalizing treat.

Just keep in mind, shorter is sweeter, and the beast hates anything with footnotes, end notes or the excessive use of Yoda-speak.

You have the sole responsibility of checking and regulating the comments of others made in this public arena of opinion, so take hold of the opportunity.

Welcome to the Opinion page; the beast lies in wait.