Spring winds bring that unsettling feeling that our lives aren't as organized or directed as they ought to be. It's time, our hearts tell us, to sweep the cobwebs off the walls, clean the dresser drawers and revamp our filing systems.

We've been doing a little spring cleaning in the Opinions section, too — refining and tidying our publication policies to make our pages more accessible in an election year, when different rules may apply in order to accommodate the potential for greater community participation.

We do our best to publish all letters received from folks who live in our distribution area (North Central New Mexico) and to seriously consider running every eligible "My View" that comes our way. We want to be able to continue that increasingly formidable effort in a timely fashion — while the newsworthy subject of the letter is still, well, newsworthy. You can help by studying our spiffed-up rules before planning your personal letter-writing campaigns for 2008.


Contributions to the Opinions section usually fall into four categories: general letters, political endorsements, thank yous and My Views. Here are the guidelines for their publication:

General — There's a 150-word limit for letters of general interest, which might address something in the broad spectrum of issues affecting our community, nation, world. You must wait 30 days from the publication of one letter before submitting another. We don't save letters received in the interim.

Political endorsements — Letters praising (or condemning) candidates are limited to 75 words. We will accept these letters until 5 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the respective election and will run them through the following Sunday, as space allows, on a first-arrived, first-printed basis. We do not accept form letters generated by political campaigns, or those that arrive without the writer's name, address and phone number.

Thank yous — Writers are allowed 50 words to thank organizations, institutions or individuals for public events or individual actions that exceeded what was reasonably expected.

My Views — these longer commentaries (350 words to 600 words) run on Sundays in our newly expanded section. There's a backlog of these, though — and we try to run them in their turn. So, if it's a timely issue you're commenting on, a letter is better. You must wait six months from the publication of a My View before submitting another, although writers are welcome to continue sending those monthly letters in the interim.

Political candidates will not be eligible to submit My Views for the duration of their campaigns, with the exception of a single, 350-word commentary that will be printed with others from candidates in the same race, beginning May 4 with the field of congressional candidates.

Letters and My Views must bear the writer's name, address and phone number for verification. All letters (even those conforming to the word counts in their categories) are subject to editing for length and for grammar, clarity, errors and taste. Writers are asked not to make negative personal comments about private businesses that do not accept public funding, or about other letter-writers or community members who are not public officials, unless they've recently been in the news. We encourage personal opinions, but they must be based on verifiable facts. We accept only original material, and the use of quotes from other sources must not exceed one-third of a letter's content.

The above exercise was not meant to discourage letters, but to ensure that the ones received get their fair share of printer's ink. No need to memorize the rules. They're on our Web site, www.santafenewmexican.com, or you may e-mail me directly at publiceditor@sfnewmexican.com.

The races are on! Gentlefolk, start your computers.