As Volume 232 of The Daily winds down, we, the members of the Editorial Board, recall the feedback we’ve received from Daily readers since September. When we wrote about issues in the Stanford community, we were criticized for having too narrow a focus. When we wrote about world issues, we were asked (sometimes not so politely) to stop daydreaming and to concentrate on our university — we are a school newspaper, after all. But does that mean we shouldn’t look beyond the Farm? Exactly what issues should be written about in a Stanford editorial, and what issues should be left to The New York Times?

Stanford students are an amalgam of many things. We are first and foremost Stanford students during our time here, although this defining characteristic is not a limiting one. We are also California residents and members of the world community — we are American, Indian, French, Canadian, Nigerian or Singaporean. Some things that happen far away make a difference in our lives. As Stanford students writing for Stanford students, we on the Editorial Board incorporate the many facets of our identity when we write about issues that interest us and issues we believe will interest you.

We in no way want to disregard the important role we play as a uniquely Stanford newspaper. After all, we are in a prime position to influence policies created by the administration that affect our daily lives. It is our duty as a student newspaper to muckrake — there’s no other publication on campus that would take on this essential task. Taking on campus-wide issues is where our effect is greatest.

Stanford, however, is not the only place where we can affect change. In a democratic society, everyone’s opinions are important, and it is the aggregation of these opinions that forms the status quo. For example, an editorial on propositions attached to the California docket is not ill-placed. On the contrary, it could inform and inspire thousands of people about voting next Tuesday.

In our pursuit of issues that extend beyond the Farm, we strive to apply what expertise we have appropriately. Mostly, this is a matter of self-selection, since topics we are interested in are often topics we know something about. While our pieces on the state of the national economy may not be written by a market analyst who works for a private-equity firm, they are written by economics majors, some of whom have done some market analyzing of their own. With such excellent faculty and resources at our disposal, we are more qualified than we think to write about matters of real impact to the world.

As the next volume of The Daily begins on Friday, replete with a new editorial board, we hope the new members use their unique perspectives to entice discussion and change at Stanford and beyond. To those who criticize editorials on “small” Stanford issues, we encourage you to read the pieces that take on the world. To those who admonish us for not properly addressing concerns at home, we encourage you to read the pieces that take on the bubble. In this happy compromise, we hope our entire constituency remains satisfied.