The Bullsheet decided to begin posting issues online because it makes it easier for the Denison community to read The Sheet regularly and share it with friends (especially when students are abroad!), it saves paper, and it’s the 21st century. By the way, the issue is usually posted online before the printed copies are delivered. Shh! With entering the realm of the Internet (and vastly improving it) came a few concerns that were raised in our first year. So we want to share our policy on posting issues online and what that means for the Denison community and the outside world.
We tag each issue to make it easier for students to search for something a friend wrote a long time ago, an opinion someone wishes to respond to, or to find pieces written by their favorite editor (it’s Lita, isn’t it?). Each issue is tagged with:
- The editor of that issue
- Topics covered in that issue
- Other staff members who contributed to that issue
- Any student who signed a submission with their full name
If anyone wishes their name to be untagged, please email us at bullsheet@denison.edu. Mention who you are and the date of the issue. No questions asked! Also, we will attempt to remove graduated students from the tags every year. Please inform us if you wish us not to or we forget to untag your name.
Each issue is posted as an embedded PDF and is text searchable. Therefore, search engines can index this website and the content of most issues. As a courtesy, the Denison community asks that no one assumes the content of The Sheet reflects the ideas or character of any author or individual mentioned. We encourage those outside the community to read our issues, but understand that you may not have the full context of the issue because the intended audience is and will always be current Denison University students, faculty, and staff. As such, unless otherwise suggested by the student, we discourage consideration of the content of The Bullsheet for hiring or admissions purposes.
As one important example, a series called “Freshman Disorientation” is published at the beginning of each year, listing the name of each first year student and a brief ‘biography’ about them. This series is done to introduce the freshman class to The Bullsheet and encourage them to submit content. These students have no input on these ‘biographies’ and most are entirely made up by our staff. Issues with this series are now posted in a manner that discourages search engines from indexing the names.
In summary, the philosophy of this publication is that it be used as a platform for students to say what they please. The editor of each Sheet has sole discretion in deciding which submissions to publish, the formatting, and what he or she wishes to fill any empty space with, but the editor does not edit the content of student submissions. They are published verbatim or not published at all, but only if the submission contains a personal attack or is extremely offensive. Overall, The Bullsheet encourages students and readers to have fun with it and not take it too seriously.