Welcome to the story comments section of www.tucsoncitizen.com! We've recently made some improvements to our commenting system, and we'd like to share some helpful hints with you:

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All comments are subject to our guidelines (listed below) and our user agreement.

Users may set an 'interest threshold' to determine which comments they wish to view. By default, users will see all comments rated at or higher than two thumbs down. You can adjust this threshold using the menu at the top of the comments, or you may view specific comments beneath your threshold by clicking on "view comment."

Any comment that a user has voted "thumbs down" on is immediately set below their personal interest threshold. This action is irreversible, although you may click 'view comment' to see the text again in the future.

Questions and comments about our new system can be directed to blogs@tucsoncitizen.com.

We welcome your comments on editorials, columns, other topics in www.tucsoncitizen.com or any subjects important to you. Commentary submitted to www.tucsoncitizen.com may be published or distributed in print, electronically or other forms. Opinions expressed in www.tucsoncitizen.com's comments reflect the opinions of the author, and are not necessarily the opinions of the Tucson Citizen or its parent company. See terms of service for more information.

Our guidelines prohibit the solicitation of products or services, copyright infringement, threatening or harassing postings and the use of vulgar, abusive, obscene or sexually-oriented language, defamatory or racially offensive remarks and illegal material. Users who violate those standards may lose their privileges on www.tucsoncitizen.com.

Do we edit user comments? No. The writers are responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. www.tucsoncitizen.com reserves the right to remove comments that violate our guidelines policy.

What can you do if you see something inappropriate in the comments? Send an e-mail to blogs@tucsoncitizen.com with the specific story, noting the comment and name of the author of the comments. Appropriate action will be taken on violations reported to www.tucsoncitizen.com.