COLUMN: Former conservative mends his ways

This summer has been a hard one for me; caffeine only does so much to get me up in the morning, and eventually we have to get up for something. I’ve found what really energizes me for the day is a good, old-fashioned, apocalyptic-style editorial page, and as luck would have it, it’s cheaper than Starbucks.

Whether it’s Gay marriage, abortion, immigration or intelligent design, it really doesn’t take very much for us to find the topics that we passionately disagree on. And while a cascade of letters to the editor is a source of inevitable joy for me, I thought it appropriate to remind you how important that exchange really is.

On the surface, political debate is about persuasion and, quite frankly, winning. But it is my opinion that these discussions, even when we disagree, play an integral part of our education here at Utah State. Call me obstructionist or divisive for reveling in controversy, but in reality I feel that defending a position takes more skill, time and brain power than much of our assignments.

What more, as a Utah-raised and Mormon-bred kid gone liberal I can assure you that I was just as confident, but ultimately wrong in my conservative youth. I hope that I can offer a little bit of that democratic spirit to USU this year in my little corner of the Statesman and perhaps help some dear conservative find his way.

I’ll hit the issues important to me. You should feel free to voice your opinions about the issues important to you in the Statesman as well. Send in a letter, send me some hate mail­- do both if you want to. If you disagree with me or the liberal philosophy there is no reason your voice should go unheard.

Join a political group on campus, or start a new one. Throw yourself into your studies but also throw yourself into student life. It’s about more than kissing on the Quad or going to the games. Get involved in school, student government, regional and even national politics.

Need an example? Bush is in Salt Lake this very moment. Where do you stand on the Iraqi conflict? Are you supportive of Bush’s policies or would you be protesting them? Whether you’d be protesting Bush or protesting the protesters, get down there and let your voice be heard.

The festivities should begin at or around 10:30 a.m. at the City Council Building in Salt Lake City. It’s a big deal-big enough that I’m willing to forego my classes to attend. If you are reading this I assume it is already much too late to attend the day’s events. But if your psych class isn’t for a few more minutes and you have a way down you could always just tell your professor that you had to go down to Salt Lake for your Liberalism 1010 class.

For those of you who can’t miss your lectures I will have a detailed summary of my day in Salt Lake next Wednesday for you to review what you missed, Be sure to attend.

Class dismissed.

Matthew Blackham is a junior majoring in sociology.