Op Ed

Op-eds, traditionally located on the page opposite the editorial page (thus the name “op-ed”), are frequently written by authors not affiliated with the publication directly (though it’s not unheard of for them to be written by staff writers). The idea many times is to give some balance to the perspective of the publication.

Op-eds offer an informed perspective on a given topic. They are opinion pieces, but that is not to say their arguments are not supported with convincing evidence. I expect that you will need to do some research about your topic.

For this assignment, I’d like you to take a look at some sample op-eds about science and engineering in order to familiarize yourself with the form. And then I’d like you to write an op-ed of your own. I would like you to include either a link or the full text of the one you are most closely using as a model.

Please look around for some op-eds related to the topic you'd like to write on; the op-eds below are to give you a general sense—it is obviously not an exhaustive list and probably won't include op-eds on the topic you're interested in.

some samples of op-eds

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112400789.html
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5723/757
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4237539.html?page=2

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