Introducing 'The Metro' Section

    The primary responsibility of a newspaper is to bring information to its readers in the most thorough and relatable manner possible. As part of our attempts to provide this service to our readers, The Heights always strives to provide detailed coverage of issues and to be as active as possible in seeking first-hand information. This emphasis on the immediacy of stories and our ability to personally get in touch with those effecting the most change in stories are the two main impetuses that inspired the dissolution of the Marketplace section, and the creation of its replacement, the Metro section.

Although Marketplace, in its coverage of current events around the country and the globe, did provide an area of news that is absolutely essential to the student body, we feel that our ability to generate new information about this topic is limited. Thus, rather than simply draw from other major news outlets and synthesize their information, we want to cover stories that are equally important to the Boston College community, if somewhere smaller in scope.

     In replacing Marketplace with Metro we hope to accomplish several things. First, this section's emphasis will not only include current events, but aspects of the geographic and higher education communities attached to BC, and not previously covered by other sections of the newspaper, such as local businesses, politics, news stories, and stories about BC alumni. Although global news stories are extremely pertinent to being a well-informed citizen, it is equally important for BC students to be aware of what is going on in their immediate vicinity: the neighboring communities. Because BC plays such a large part in affecting the economy of local businesses and the tenor of the surrounding neighborhoods, it is our responsibility to be invested in these areas. While students may get information about global events from many news sources, we feel that the local communities are highly neglected right now in newspaper coverage. This is true not only because it is infeasible for our News section to cover all campus and local stories, but also because we are of the opinion that non-student newspapers in the area do not do an adequate job of digging into the pressing events and changes in the community.

     We hope that this new section will continue to integrate BC into the surrounding communities. The students of this campus can be leaders in this community as well as off campus, and volunteer efforts already demonstrate students' desires to be a part of something bigger than the BC bubble. With the institution of the Metro section, The Heights aims to help students be better informed and capable of taking on this leadership endeavor.