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Show t 2 OPINION S f f FORUMFORTNIGHTLY.COM I 1 . f I EDITOR-IN-CHIE- F JUSTINA MCCANDLESS forumeditorwestminstercollege.edu I I PRODUCTION MANAGER KENDRA BLACK forumproductionwestminstercollege.edu BUSINESS MANAGER EMILIO CASILLAS forumbusmesswestminstercollege.edu ASSISTANT EDITORS IAN COPPOCK LAURA WARD ONLINE MANAGER DEVIN LANE forumonlmewestminstercollege ? edu SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER TYSON OLCOTT ADVISER KIMBERLY ZARKIN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS STEPHEN COOK IAN COPPOCK HILLARY FOWLER AMY FORKER GARY GONZALEZ BRITTANY JOHNS KATHERIN NELSON JENNI STOKES LAURA WARD Editor's column Kids can save the world Justina McCandless Editor-in-Chi- ef ( CONTACT . 1840 S. 1300 E. SHAW L3 SLC, UTAH EDITORIAL PHONE: 801.832.2320 forumeditorwestminstercolIege.edu BUSINESS & ADVERTISING PHONE: 801.832.2319 forumbusmesswestminstercollege.edu LETTERS Submit letters to the editor and opinion pieces to forumeditorwestminster-cotiege.ed- u with "Opinion as the subject line. Only letters received from a valid email address signed with a first and last name will be accepted. You can also submit opinion and comments by texting or calling Forum Voice at 801.410.0057. The Forum reserves the right to edit all submissions. The views and opinions expressed are those of the writers and are not to be considered those of The Forum, faculty, staff or administration of Westminster College. If published, letters and comments become sole property of The Forum. The Forum publishes 1,000 copies every other Wednesday. Initial copies are free of charge; additional copies may be purchased for $1. The Forum seeks to provide an unbiased, open media outlet for the Westminster campus and surrounding communities. Contact the editor at forumeditor westminstercollege.edu with suggestions, story ideas and feedback. The Forum is published and printed in Salt Lake City, Utah. All rights reserved. No reproduction, reprinting or mass redistribution of print or online material without express written consent of the editor. Copyright 2011. many movies over winter break. I was watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, and after all of the battles are over and won, Harry, Hermione and Ron stand together on the bridge in front of Hogwarts casde. Thats when it hit me -t- hey were just kids, just a bunch of teenagers, but they saved their world. I mean, I knew they were kids, but I just never thought about it in that way before. Its inspiring that our generation chose a story such as Harry Potter to spend so much of our time with, because at its heart, the message of Harry Potter relates direcdy to us. They were just normal kids of average intelligence, but they ended up being the ones who defeated a powerful and real evil. Yes, they could do magic, but as J.K. Rowling said, We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine bet- ter. This line of thinking led me to scrounging around in my room for a business card that an incredible person gave to me at a newspaper conference. I found the card. Its for an organization called The Harry Potter Alliance. The main page of their website, reads thehpalliance.org, Did you ever wish that Harry Potter was real? Well it kind of is. According to their website, the HP Alliance takes an outside-of-the-bproach to civic engagement by using parallels from the Harry Potter books to educate and mobilize young people across the world toward issues of literacy, equality, and human rights. Excuse me while I geek out for a second, but blimey ox that is so cool. And the Harry Potter Alliance is successful; they do incredible things all the time. Their list of successes includes raising over $123,000 in just two weeks for Partners In Health in Haiti, sending five cargo planes full of supplies to and Haiti, registering over 900 first-tivoters during their Wizard Rock the Vote campaigns in 2008 and 2010 (Let them know youre not a dopeWizard Rock the Vote). They also produced and promoted the life-savi- ng me Harry Potter and the Dark Lord WaldeMart, garnering well over two million total views (if you havent seen these videos, go watch them, their commentary on how the WalMart Corporation is damaging communities is intelligent and entertaining). Not to mention this organization was founded by young people not at all so different from us. Can I say it one more time? So cool. Anyway, all this got me thinking about Westminster, and the kind of world-changithings students here on campus are doing. The Forum reported on many activities and events the students initiated and engaged in last semester. To name a few, our Student Body President Jonathon Pierce got together with other student leaders to send a letter on the debt crisis to President Obama, the Sustainability Fel- videos ng lows uncovered eerie findings about the sustainability and overall health of the food we serve on campus, a large group of students attended and engaged in an event that educated about the Occupy movement, students conducted tons of sendee in and out of the classroom, and the list goes on and on. Keep up the good work students. The Westminster work youre doing is proving that kids and young people can and will save the world. I think its important to re member that we students, our generation, we are the future. We have the power to make or break our world. We are the ones who decide if the Dark Arts will prevail. We have to stop letting cor- porations and people that are older than us and that frankly cant and sometimes dont want shape and make decisions about the world that we are going to live in. So as this semester and as 2012 begins, I hope you will take a moment to decide to join in the epic battle - will we stand and fight for what we believe in this to relate to us year? Will we engage? Well I start and continue engaging. After all, every opportunity is available to you right here at Westminster. Not only does the student newspaper want to help you change our college and our world for the better, but also every department, every office and every staff and faculty member on campus wants the say, same. I challenge you to change the world this year by engaging with your college, your community and your student, state and federal governments. Casting a vote, attending a senate meeting or even picking up a newspaper every other week may seem small, but I promise you those small acts can make a world of difference. Lets change our world: no spells or magic wands required. |