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Show Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 Page 10 V • "-Free Speech el 0 i I 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@aggiemaiLusu.edu Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Aboutik OurView Editor in Chief Buy a bowl game ticket ... now Catherine Meidell Copy Editor D. Whitney Smith News Editor I f you haven't bought your tickets and called your Idaho relatives for sleeping arrangements, drop the newspaper after you read this, and do it. Most of you don't understand how big a deal it is that the Aggies are going bowling. You probably don't remember when Anthony Calvillo scored seven touchdowns and won the 58-56 shoot out in 1993 over BYU's John Walsh, who passed for a school record of 619 yards. You probably don't remember when Calvillo helped the Aggies win the Las Vegas Bowl and was named bowl MVP for beating Ball State 42-33 later that year. You definitely don't remember when Lionel Aldridge was an All-America honorable selection at USU before starting his rookie season in the NFL under legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. Most students can only remember the past 17-or-so seasons when Utah State went unrecognized for its football program. The point is, before this season, Utah State football lost its aura of greatness. Now, with the invitation to play Ohio in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, that aura is coming back — our Aggies are winning football games. High school football players from Salt Lake County high schools are excited for the chance to play collegiate football in Cache Valley and Aggie fever is spreading among the hearts of alumni who are ponying up the dough to buy new practice areas, facilities, turf fields and training rooms. Most importantly, they are buying season tickets again. Getting bodies in the seats is crucial for the emotional high the football team needs in Boise, Idaho. You are of the many who need to be there to watch your Aggies make history. We don't really care if you fly, drive, bike, walk, buy a ticket, get a press pass or whatever to see the Aggies play on that ugly blue Smurf turf. Years from now, you're going to be able to say you were a student when Utah State football became a staple in the Logan collegiate experience. You'll be able to tell your friends and family how you watched the USU defense, led by Bobby Wagner, Kyle Gallagher and local hero Levi Koskan, sack Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton for a Football Bowl Subdivision record 16 times. You'll be able to tell them how you watched as the offensive line pushed around a lazy MidAmerican Conference defense and set a school record for rushing yards in a game. You will also be able to say you were in Bronco Stadium chanting "one more year" with the rest of the Hurd, students and alumni, when Robert Turbin sets the school record for career rushing Perspectives evolve after finding oneself The rumor mill has been churning away and delivered to my ears the myth that many Statesman readers suspect I don't really believe what I write and I'm only trying to spark controversy and anger. My last column of the semester is here to quell these doubts. Perhaps, a little explanation of my past will lead some skeptical readers to an understanding of how I arrived at some of my conclusions. As a child I was home-schooled, and very devoutly LDS, remaining a member of the church until I was a 17-year-old senior in high school. I went to public school that year and took a humanities class from an excellent teacher who showed me there were many kinds of people unfamiliar to me who all had different beliefs. I was impressed that there was much more to the world than I had ever understood. Then I fell in love — as much as a 17-year-old can — with another girl. This, combined with several other personal experiences, pushed me to seriously question what I was taught to believe. I ultimately decided the conservative background I grew up with no longer explained life as I was beginning to understand it. So with a somewhat painful amount of critical thinking, reading, and self-exploration, I came to discover I am not a religious individual. More intense education revealed religion is responsible for the justification of the majority of atrocious acts commit- Lizzen Up LIZ EMERY ► See LIZZEN UP, Page 11 Rob Jepson Assistant News Editor Megan Allen Features Editor Kellyn Neumann Assistant Features Editor Allee Evensen Sports Editor Tavin Stucki Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Huskinson ForumLetters Crowd needs passion again To the editor: During the recent loss to a very good Denver team, I was seriously upset to discover a group of fans had organized a boycott against cheering for the first 3 minutes of the game. These so-called fans allowed their pride and arrogance to inhibit the tangible positive energy that has helped the USU men's basketball to amass an extremely successful home record under Stew Morrill. These fans selfishly sought to teach a lesson to an errant usher who told the fans they could be punished for obscene chants, among other things. I attended the BYU game and I, along with every student present, felt the powerful effects of a united passionate fan base. This energy, which our players are accustomed to using as a boost, was clearly absent and sorely missed. Denver jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the eerily silent first 3 minutes and never looked back. Our goal as students and fans of Utah State basketball should be to never allow this to happen again. We must rise as one — our collective voice building in intensity until the very foundations of the Spectrum shake as we bellow? I believe that we will win? Tyler Draper Photo Editor Letters to the editor • A public forum Stop punishing Aggie team To the editor: Ever since I stepped onto campus I have been in love with this university and its athletics. I can't count how many times I've come home from games voiceless, soaked to the bone or with throbbing palms from clapping so hard. We have the loudest and most spirited fans in the nation, a reputation that I love sharing with everyone I come in contact with. I love being an Aggie fan. However, in the past few See LETTERS, Page 11 Legal high, lower crime rates This time From of year always gets me excitthe Soap ed. The holiday Box season gives me a warmand-fuzzy feeling as I look D. WHITNEY SMITH forward to seeing family, enjoying Festivus and ogling at the beautiful Christmas trees decorated limb to limb with bells, lights and talking Capt. James T. Kirk Star Trek ornaments. When I think of trees, I sometimes think back to a period in my life, not too long ago, that seems like another lifetime. I'm referring to a time when if I heard the word "trees," I instantly thought about smoking pot — you know, marijuana. Back then, Christmas had a whole different ringa-ling-ling to it. In fact, for me, any and every holiday was a great reason to get fully baked — Thanksgiving, Easter, Secretary's Day and especially Arbor Day. This is a touchy subject for a lot of conservatives, so I'd like to warn you that I only speak of this so openly because I've advanced to a stage in life in which I enjoy the milder things the world has to offer and abide by a set of voluntary suggestions called "The Word of Wisdom." Back in the day, though, I always told my pothead friends I'd someday be a great non-pot- smoking marijuana advocate, and I intend to live up to my prediction. First off, I can confidently say I have enough experience with pot to be able to knowledgeably speak about it. That being said, I haven't smoked it for more than two years and have no intentions of ever doing so again. However, this doesn't mean I'm going to turn my back on it and pretend it was some terrible substance that left me half-dead in a ditch, with heroin coursing through my veins and foam coming out of my mouth. It didn't. And the beauty was when I wanted to stop smoking pot, I did. I didn't have to go to rehab or cut down. I just quit. I'm not ignorant. I know there are plenty of idiots that have done stupid things while stoned, and continue to give pot a bad name, but this doesn't mean the problem is marijuana — lots of dummies do terrible things all the time, having never smoked pot. Every time someone dies of a heroin overdose or kills people while driving drunk, I see news reports mention the dastardly, lethal narcotic marijuana was also found in the perpetrator's system. Can we please stop dragging pot through the mud in these stories? This would be like saying allergies may have had something to do with the death of a hiker who got mauled by a grizzly bear, just because there were flowers on the trail. See SOAP BOX, Page 11 Ani Mirzakhanyan Assistant Photo Editor Carl R. Wilson Web Editor Steve Kent Editorial Board Catherine Meidell Rob Jepson Kellyn Neumann Tavin Stucki Ani Mirzakhanyan D. Whitney Smith Steve Kent 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 submitting 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. |