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opinion
Columns
constitutionally protected
First of all, I apologize. I am sorry that I was misconstrued
last week and that so many people think I am such a bad person.
I was not writing
last week's column with the intent to sabotage Oron Maher's
campaign or to verbally beat him down. The truth is -- and
perhaps none of you have ever realized this before --the benefit
of having a column is that I can write whatever I want.
What I wanted to
write was not about a personal contempt for Maher (there is
none), but for the silliness of his campaign for Associated
Students Inc. president.
In the days immediately
following, I was slightly amazed that I got any reaction at
all. Sure, I knew Maher would react since he actually reads
the paper, but there were also some strange reactions that
I would have never expected.
For example, someone
actually sent a letter to President Bush and a list of newspapers
and political figures asking them to not allow me to ever
work as a journalist.
More ridiculous
than somebody taking student government so seriously, is somebody
taking my column so seriously. I wasn't attacking Maher at
all in the spirit of being vicious; instead I was making fun
of the fact that he seems to be putting all his eggs into
one basket.
What this person
attempted to do was not discuss what they found wrong with
my column, but to attack me with anger they had because they
thought I hated Maher.
Attempting to ruin
my career before it ever starts is not the answer. Even more
important is not realizing my right to freedom of speech.
I have exercised
this practice weekly for the last year and a half with my
columns and some of last semester's Our Views, as well as
in my everyday life.
Freedom of speech
is something I take quite seriously and what I found most
depressing about the reaction to last week's column is that
it had not come sooner, or more importantly for a better cause.
In the past I have
written about abortion rights, legalizing marijuana, the mistakes
of free trade and globalization and the need for universal
health care in the United States. Nearly none of these, though,
raised anybody's blood pressure the way my column did about
Maher.
I think perhaps
my point was lost in the middle of what people thought was
in poor taste and that is this; there are far more important
things in this world than student government.
Students often
are way to consumed with there own lives to realize the bigger
picture. The bigger picture in this whole debacle of a week
is that all of this energy and passion that was used in supporting
Maher and being disgusted by my words would be far more beneficial
if it was directed in a more positive way.
Some suggestions:
open your eyes to the "war" that we are having with
Afghanistan and the government's role in actually ending the
war. Or maybe, just maybe we should pay more attention to
local and state elections, since they are the ones that actually
make a large impact on our lives.
Student government
is not the end all, be all. There is something larger and
more important and I think that, coupled with the fact that
somebody was taking himself too seriously, was my only point.
Alex Roman is
a journalism major at Cal State Long Beach.
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