Comment-A Broader Agenda

Comment

Comment: A Broader Agenda

Family North Carolina Magazine—Sep/Oct 2006

By Bill Brooks

Welcome to this first issue of Family North Carolina magazine, the new flagship publication of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. Please let me give you an idea of what we are hoping to accomplish with this change.

For almost 13 years we have published a monthly newsletter and a policy paper. Delving into topics too numerous to mention, we have always been limited by the constraints of four pages for the policy paper and six for the newsletter. Often, there is much good information that we leave on the cutting room floor, so to speak.

By moving to a 32-page magazine format, we will have the space necessary to give a more comprehensive treatment to many of the different issues we investigate. Better information, we hope, will lead to better public policy. Our goal, however, to present you with accurate and timely research and analysis, will not change.

We also hope that this magazine format will encourage readership. Often newsletters are merely something to be scanned and discarded. They don’t make it to the den coffee table and their lifespan is relatively short. We hope that every issue of Family North Carolina will be a keeper.

One of the challenges of publishing a magazine is developing a format that makes sense for the content contained in each issue. Since we began this project, we have made decisions to add pages, reposition pages and move from a quarterly to a bi-monthly publication. We will likely be experimenting with the first several issues to find a mix that works for our readers.

This is where you can help to make this publication a success. We need your feedback. Whether on subject matter, ideas, layout or other issues, we hope you will let us know what you think—what you like and what you don’t. Your ideas will help us serve you better, and we welcome your input. Mail or email your comments to one of the addresses at the bottom of our “letters” page.

One of the reasons we have decided to move into this new format is the addition to our staff of a new director of research, Dr. Erik Root. With a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate School, and experience in research, writing, and teaching at the collegiate level, Erik brings a new dimension to our research. In addition to directing our research efforts, he will also serve as editor of Family North Carolina magazine. We know you will enjoy getting to know Erik as we are.

As you explore this first issue, we hope you will have an even fuller understanding of the importance of the issues facing us in the public policy arena. The challenge is to examine past and present ideas, and look for what works and what doesn’t. Our elected officials are looking for ways to solve problems, and we want to bring the best ideas and the most useful research to the table.

It was apparent that the first issue we needed to address was the state of marriage in North Carolina, more specifically an amendment, or lack thereof, to the state Constitution making it clear that the institution of marriage is recognized by the state only as the union of one man and one woman at one time. Although this idea is already in our statutes, being overwhelmingly passed by the General Assembly in 1996, it can be changed by the legislature as well as ruled unconstitutional by a single judge. Allowing the people to place this idea in the constitution is something the General Assembly has the opportunity to do. The articles in this issue of Family North Carolina explore those options.

I hope you will also take note of our spotlight issues, and our department articles. There is such a large volume of available information to choose from and part of our job is to sort through it all and bring you those topics that are important to you and your family.

We have reserved a few pages in each issue to let you know more about some of the other resources and events we produce for you. Whether its a dinner, a video-series, a weekly e-mail, or our website—we want you to participate with us.

Bill Brooks is president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council.