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Show v • & Orlin' Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 Page 9 =Free Speech Zone Opinions on this page (columns, letters unless otherwise identified are not from Utah Statesman staff, but from a wide variety of members of the campus community who have strong opinions, just like you do! This is an open forum. Want to write something? Contact: statesman@aggiemailustLedu Utah State Universit • Lo • an. Utah • www.utahstatesman.com O urView A b ou tU S Editor in Chief Green beans do not contain alcohol If your friend was eating six cans of green beans a day, would you sit down and have a chat about his or her problem? Unlike the Wellness Center, which relates cans of green beans to cans to alcohol, we would applaud our friends for consuming the daily recommended serving of vegetables. Wait, so alcohol is now full of vitamins and will regulate our health? Why didn't anyone tell us before? Can you find a correlation between vegetables and alcohol? Neither can we. In light of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, the Wellness Center initiated a program present on college campuses across the country — The Green Bean Campaign. The premise of the plan is simple. Over a period of two weeks a group of students leaves a series of posters around campus that build on one another. The first is a pod labeled "green bean." The second inquires how many six packs of green beans it takes to have fun on the weekend. The final poster states: "You can talk to a friend about their green bean problem, but can you talk about a drinking problem?" While we applaud the Student Wellness Center in its efforts to prevent alcohol-related problems among students, posters and cans will garner little attention among the thousands of advertisements that already line signposts and bulletin boards across campus. The chance a student will even associate the various posters with one another over a two-week span is small. Students who do happen to see every poster and connect the dots might not even be the ones who need to hear the message. For students who struggle to manage their alcohol consumption, it isn't likely they're going to pull inspiration from a few glossy pieces of paper. While the campaign is right in encouraging students to talk to their friends, talking can only do so much. As writer, director and political activist Rob Reiner once said, "Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself." Instead of beating around the bush, it's time to start teaching students how to follow the law and drink responsibly. Cute illustrations of vegetables aren't going to cut it, however, it is a step in the right direction. Let's leave the soggy, long vegetables for casseroles and enact a plan that will do something other than create "awareness." We've all seen friends and family fall victim to irresponsible drinking. Just three weeks ago we watched one of our own, a 17-year-old girl, was rushed to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Each student will have to make a choice. All USU can do is provide resources for those considering a change. Though we don't see the campaign as a program that will have a magnificent impact, we hope it will ignite thoughts about whether or not students should better moderate consumption. Women need more say in abortion rights I am pro-family, proadoption and pro-choice; believe it or not, there Lizzen doesn't have to be a difference between these seemUp ingly dichotomous viewpoints. While many of my friends had mothers selfless enough to give their children up for adoption, I have other friends whose lives would have been devastated if they'd carried a child full term. Giving up something you've literally carried within you for nine months is not an option for some women, but giving a new baby what it needs may be just as impossible. The solution for some is abortion. Or better yet, solve the problem before it's caused and get on a reliable method of birth control. Talking about abortion and birth control in an opinion column is kind of like discussing Brett Favre on ESPN: it's beating a dead horse with a stick. However, I want to bring a new perspective into the controversial topic and discuss some aspects that are not always considered. I receive emails from Planned Parenthood, and the LIZ EMERY ►See POLITICAL, Page 10 Catherine Meidell Copy Editor D. Whitney Smith News Editor Rob Jepson Assistant News Editor Megan Allen Features Editor Kellyn Neumann Assistant Features Editor Allee Evensen Sports Editor Tavin Stucki East Coast boy meets meets Utah culture Hostile, aggressive, scary — I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with sometimes, but during the couple of years I've lived here in Cache Valley, I feel I've come off as abrasive more times than I'd like to shake a stick at. Rather than call it quits, gather my things and head back to eastern Pennsylvania with my overly assertive tail between my legs, I'd like to analyze what is going on here culturally that may be causing some of the conflicts I, and others like me, have experienced in this jewel of a city nestled in the mountains of northern Utah. For the first 26 years of my life I grew up in a place called Allentown — the place Billy Joel and, later in "Hangover 2," face-tatted Ed Helms crooned about — which is 45 miles north of Philadelphia. Allentown is no suburban, predominantly white area where everyone smiles at each other in public while secretly hating everyone but themselves. Allentown is part of a typical metropolitan area with a mix of people closely representative to that of New York City's population, but 10 times smaller. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of self-centered, greedy jerks where I come from. The major difference I notice between Cache Valley and where I grew up is that people back East aren't afraid to tell each other how they feel — whether they know one another or not. Back East, I can go into a coffee shop or a store and talk to a perfect stranger without getting looked at like I'm a nutcase. I've also found that in the East, when I walk into a convenience store or a restaurant to get served, the person behind the counter usually has the courtesy to pretend to be From the Soap Box D. WHITNEY SMITH nice. Out here people don't seem to care that the money I'm about to give them pays for their pittance of a check. I don't care if you're unhappy with your job or the money you don't make, or the fact that you don't like the way I look; I feel like I deserve a little respect, even if you do have to fake it. What I've said may have people reeling in their seats, wondering how I've mustered the audacity to say such things — How can I be so abrasive, such a monster? This is how my culture and the dominant Utah culture differ. And when I say "dominant culture," I'm not talking about being LDS, because I am LDS. A lot of non-LDS folks blame the culture in Utah on "Mormonism." I'm here to say, the religion is not necessarily the root of the issue. Granted, most out-of-state Mormons feel, for some reason, like it's necessary to specify when they meet new acquaintances that they are not "Utah Mormons." Every time I hear this, I laugh. But, no, there's more to the culture out here than just being LDS. First of all, I love living here. Being an outdoors enthusiast — I lived in Moab four years before I came here — I couldn't ask for a better place to live. Second of all, I don't hate the people out here, and I certainly don't wake up every morning thinking to myself, "Who can I attack today?" I've developed this complex that I appear to people to be some sort of ferocious, rapacious animal. Again, I admit, I may aggressively seek to attain clarity through direct identification of my thoughts and emotions in conversation compared to most locals. However, I do not intend to hurt feelings, ruffle feathers or otherwise cause discomfort among those I associate with. I would simply like to reassure anyone who may bump 66 I feel like I deserve a little respect, even if you have to fake it." — D. Whitney Smith, The Statesman copy editor into me in the future that they can expect no sugarysweet, beat-around-the-bush, passive-aggressive, elemental tack to my speech patterns. In other words, "fuhgeddaboudit" — let's get to the point and move on with our lives. I feel like I've heard the word "awkward" all to often here, and I constantly try to remind people things are only awkward if you allow yourself to feel awkward. I suppose for an area where the culture dictates strategically sought-out path of least resistance when trying to get a point across, people will tend to feel awkward when you up and tell it like it is. But I feel it's still the best way. I mean, how else do you ever get a woman to go on a date if you don't ask her? It might feel uncomfortable ►See AWKWARD, Page 10 .4 . ,I;A-,,, \ .k ., r1--vv\s-Co-7ri,“, , .!1,. ..13■1■\t;\.\,ym u""""7"Wr .., s, Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Huskinson Photo Editor Ani Mirzakhanyan Assistant Photo Editor Carl R. Wilson Web Editor Steve Kent Editorial Board Catherine Meidell D. Whitney Smith Steve Kent Kellyn Neumann Tavin Stucki Ani Mirzakhanyan Rob Jepson About letters • Letters should be limited to 400 words. • All letters may be shortened, edited or rejected for reasons of good taste, redundancy or volume of similar letters. • Letters must be topic oriented. They may not be directed toward individuals. Any letter directed to a specific individual may be edited or not printed. • No anonymous letters will be published. Writers must sign all letters and include a phone number or e-mail address as well as a student identification number (none of which is published). Letters will not be printed without this verification. • Letters representing groups — or more than one individual — must have a singular representative clearly stated, with all necessary identification information. • Writers must wait 21 days before sub- mitting successive letters — no exceptions. • Letters can be hand delivered or mailed to The Statesman in the TSC, Room 105, or can be e-mailed to statesman@aggiemail.usu.edu , or click on www.utahstatesman.com for more letter guidelines and a box to submit letters. |