We encourage readers to write us.

Our Opinions page expresses both the Call’s viewpoints and our readers’ viewpoints.

We don’t expect readers to always agree with our positions on every issue — something would be terribly wrong if they did. And, in fact, we welcome letters taking views opposite of the newspaper’s because the purpose of our Opinions page is to serve as a community forum, promoting a discussion on issues affecting our readers.

We prefer letters of 200 words or less. This is not a hard-and-fast rule. Because of space considerations, though, the shorter your letter, the better the chances are that it will be published.

Each letter written to us must be signed and include the author’s telephone number and address for verification purposes. We will not publish nor give out the author’s telephone number and address.

We also require that readers mark their letters “written exclusively for the Call.”

Furthermore, we will not publish more than one letter from a single author in any 30-day period. The demand for space is so great it would be unfair to let a single author monopolize it.

If you submit your letter by e-mail and have not seen it published, contact Mike Anthony at (314) 843-0102. For some reason, oftentimes we will not receive an e-mail that is sent to us. Please remember that the same guidelines apply to all letters whether they are submitted by regular mail, fax or e-mail.