Elizabeth R.A. Liddell, known by pretty much everyone as Lyz, has been editor-in-chief of the SSA eMpirical since July 2006.  It’s rare for her to make an appearance as a writer in the eMpirical, as she prefers to keep her presence quietly within the realms of punctuation, ghostwriting and html code.

You don’t usually hear from me directly in the SSA eMpirical.  I’m not one of those editors who prefaces every issue with a story about my great-aunt Millie or my garden flowers and somehow ties that in to the theme of the issue.  In fact, the most you ever hear (or see, really) of my voice is tied up in the code and formatting behind these webpages and emails – very few of my own words make it into the eMpirical.

SSA eMprical Editor-in-Chief Lyz Liddell, putting together the issue you're reading now!.

But I’ve had a fire lit under me since the New Humanism conference and the SSA activist training.  I’m suddenly much more aware of what we can do with this newsletter, and I’m itching to get started.  We already have a newsletter that brings you items of interest and opportunities, but we’re looking at making it more specific to student interests and incorporating more student voices.  We’re already mongering ideas behind the scenes, and I want to take it even further.

I want you to help me.  Not you collectively, as the hundreds of subscribers to this newsletter, but you specifically.  Each of you, individually, can contribute to the future of the eMpirical, and I’d love to have you along for the ride.

So what do I want from you?  One, or both, of two things.  The first is simple, and it’ll only take you a few minutes.  Send me an email – Lyz@SecularStudents.org – and let me know what you think.  What do you like about the eMpirical, what would you like to see more of, what don’t you like, and how do you think we could improve it?  What’s useful to you or your student group?  Do you think we have too much stuff that’s not relevant to students?  Think we should have an occasional cartoon?  Want to see some original commentary and insight into a secularist’s world?  These are things I want to know – I can’t tailor this newsletter to your needs if I don’t know what those needs are.  And it takes just a minute to email me.

Want to do more?  I definitely have an offer for you.  If you’re a dedicated student atheist/agnostic/humanist/freethinker/skeptic/etc. with some skill in the area of the English language, you might be interested in contributing articles to the eMpirical.   I’m always open to suggestions.  If you think we should run reviews of the latest freethought books and are willing to contribute those articles, let me know!  Or, if you’re willing to write but don’t know where to start, we always have ideas that need writers.  Either way, email me and let me know you’re interested!

There’s a little sidebar on this newsletter that says “This is your eNewsletter.” We’re not kidding – and I’d love to hear from you about it.  Take a minute and send me a line about what’s on your mind.  I’m all ears.