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Show Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 Page 10 Free SpeedL • sews Zone e..10 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 i Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Don't complain if you won't contribute In the Brutally Honest Forum on Wednesday, three students stepped forward with concerns for the ASUSU Executive Council. Either the council is doing a great job or the student body isn't paying attention. We're inclined to think both statements are true. After spending a few years with college students in Cache Valley, some of us at An Editorial Opinion The Statesman have noticed a few trends. Every year around this time, the weather gets cold. It's not uncommon for the first snow of the year to hit in October, yet every year someone starts howling like the sky is falling when it does. Complaining seems to be part of human nature — or, at least, part of our culture. We understand how easy it is to complain about weather, professors, jobs, the newspaper or student government. Unlike the weather, however, students can improve student government with a little more involvement. It's easy to complain about the American political system. We have two ever-diverging parties, super-PACs and democratic representatives beholden not only to voters, but to the companies that buy votes. What reason do we, as USU students have to resent our leaders if we don't give them feedback? In nearly every interview and Executive Council meeting we can recall, ASUSU leaders discuss ways to get students more involved with student government and its projects throughout the university. Christian Orr, ASUSU student advocate, started the USU Think Tank but has since said he wishes more students would volunteer to take on the projects the new program has created. Most of these projects are well thought out and have the potential to improve lives, but only if enough people can help them get started. The current ASUSU administration has done a pretty good job, but there's room for improvement. Each student who voices a concern or volunteers for a few hours can make an improvement to our campus, our school and our erstwhile home in northern Utah. Abo ut US Editor in Chief Steve Kent Copy Editor Eric Jungblut News Editor Allee Wilkinson News Senior Writer Tmera Bradley Our View Features Editor Natasha Bodily Features Senior Writer Cale Patterson Sports Editor Tavin Stucki ForumLetters Sports Senior Writer Curtis Lundstrom Pornography harms others to run over his pregnant Pornography is NOT wife with a car. Months condonable in any cirlater, we discovered that cumstance. It disrupts their dramatic actions the viewer's mental balwere an effect of find- ances and makes natuTo the editor: ing pornography and ral, healthy sexual urges consequently becoming escalate into uncontrolThe recent opinaddicted to it. lable addictions. The ion column 'Shame Research shows that lives of three families I Aggravates Sexual pornography releases love have been ruined Addictions' focused on the unhealthy effects of the chemicals that pro- because of pornograthe taboo status Utah duce euphoria during phy. One of the addicthas put on sex and its sex. Obviously these ed has been legally related subjects. It spe- chemicals have addic- banned from ever seecifically cited Fight the tive traits. These three ing his children again. New Drug's recent adults, who were all Those children fear him exposition, and stated married, became so to this day. Any one of that the information addicted to pornogra- them would tell you was poorly present- phy that daily sex wasn't his personality changes ed. However, I wish it enough to satisfy their began not long after his would have included a cravings, and thus they addiction to pornogradisclaimer that validated became increasingly dis- phy. I understand that their cause. Their point, satisfied with their lives. as I see it, is not that sex- Psychological inter- the author of 'Shame Sexual ual urges are damaging, views showed that in Aggravates two of the three cases, Addictions' doesn't but that pornography is and should be avoided no other cause could be agree with how Fight identified (the exception the New Drug presentat all costs. struggled with PTSD). ed their anti-pornograPornography They were not struggling phy material. However, shouldn't be classified with affairs, drug addic- I wish they would have with masturbation, lust, and sex, as it was in tions, or extreme finan- put in the disclaimer that the aforementioned cial or marital woes. This Fight the New Drug's Pornography, is according to the men- cause is right, regardless article. unlike the other three, is tal professionals they of the presentation. Forgive me if I'm fatal. The lives of three visited, not the opinions of their family members. overreacting. This is a people dear to me were ruined because of it. With one exception, the subject that has bruised One attempted suicide, only cause that could my heart forever. one threatened to kill his be seen of their 180s in Taleechia Riley wife, and another tried sanity was pornography. Allegations distract from cyclist's service A professional cyclist contracts a deadly, killing disease. After a long battle and against all odds, he manages to not only defeat cancer, but return to the sport of cycling and win its highest honor as champion of the Tour de France not once, but a record seven times. What Lance Armstrong achieved didn't end with each race — he became a cancer research activist, founding Livestrong, the organization whose platform is to identify issues faced by cancer survivors and improve the quality of life for those in the cancer community. I have read his books — all of them, I think. I was probably 13 or 14 years old when I did so. I was amazed by his story, even inspired. I think of how many people he has helped and how many lives he has changed through his efforts. Anyone with internet access, which is virtually everyone, will see a very different image of Lance plastered across news sites around the globe. The credibility of his cycling accomplishments is now in question. Google news with his name and you will see dark headlines about fallen heroes, deception and doping, painting a picture of of man without integrity — a cheater who should no longer be the object of our admiration. I don't by any means condone what he did, and I do not think that the ends justify the means in this case, but that said, have you ever cheated? I have. Am I proud of it? Of course not, though I feel like I need to ask myself a question: What good have I done in the world to counterbalance my negative act of cheating? What positive things have I done to make up for moments when I have been lacking in integrity? What have you done? It is easy to sit back in our desk chairs, pointing the finger of condemnation at Lance, scorning him for what we feel was some sort of betrayal. If he did indeed dope, he obviously knew it all along, and before he was crucified by the media, the moral burden of that decision was confined to him and any directly involved. Is my life changed because he cheated? No. I do not know him. He is not my friend. I admired the values and ideas for which he stood, and they have not somehow disappeared because he has fallen from fame. Hard workers can still win. People can still overcome cancer and go on to do amazing things. My very good friend Meghan Peterson, a USU student, has beaten cancer. That inspires me. I can still apply the lessons I learned from Lance Armstrong's story because I don't see them in him alone. I have yet to do something so great as start a foundation for cancer research, let alone beat the disease. My achievements cannot hope to rival that single achievement of Lance, but someday they could. I can only hope they will. And guess what? I am positive that, just like Lance, I will be making a great deal of my own mistakes along the way. I can only hope that in the end I accomplish much more good than bad. In my opinion, we are all much better served by remembering the positive image and inspiring ideals the story of Lance Armstrong once provided rather than dwelling on the negative media and networking which so darkly portray him. I still admire him. Yeah, he cheated. So have you. So have I. But between the three of us, cheating aside, who has done the most good for humanity? My bet is that it's still Lance. So next time you point a finger at him for making some serious mistakes, remember: There are three more pointing back at you. - Cale Patterson is a sophomore majoring in journalism and communications. He enjoys home renovation, physical fitness and writing. Lance rmstrong Former cyclist stripped of Tour de France wins Early life Born 1971, in Plano, Texas Wins Iron Kids Triathlon Cycling career 1991 U.S. amateur champion 1993, 1995 Wins stages in Tour de France 1995, 1996 Wins Tour DuPont 1996-1997 Testicular cancer spreads to lungs, brain; has surgery, chemotherapy; establishes the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research 1999-2005 Wins Tour de France a record seven times 2009 Returns to the Tour, finishing third 2010 Competes in the Tour but finishes 23rd; teammate Floyd Landis alleges Armstrong used banned substances 2011 Tyler Hamilton, another teammate, says they both used banned substances on the 1999 Tour, which Armstrong denies Oct. 11, 2012 U.S. AntiDoping Agency says Armstrong led successful doping program for cyclists Oct. 22 International Cycling Union strips him of all titles Source' lancearmstrong.com , AP, BBC, MCT Photo Service 2012 MCT Photo Editor Delayne Locke Senior Photographer Curtis Ripplinger Web Editor Karlie Brand Editorial Staff: Steve Kent Allee Evensen Delayne Locke Tavin Stucki Eric Jungblut Natasha Bodily Karli Brand 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. 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