There comes a time in every college student's life when they must leave Fantasy Island and enter the real world. I can't help but chuckle reading the latest attacks against Post columnist Ashley Herzog. Facts and research be damned, the authors of these poor excuses to defend their agenda just know putting more guns into the general public will create more violence without any knowledge on the subject at hand. You might call Ms. Herzog controversial, but it's unfair to say she hasn't researched her opinions and thought them out well in advance. Aristotle once said, It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. It appears that Herzog's latest critics by and large lack this ability.
Now in all fairness, this isn't a problem that lies solely with the left-of-center students at Ohio University. Numerous times I discovered that individuals in my own party were uninformed and unable to justify their stance on an issue. The sheer numbers of political leftist or progressives at Ohio University creates a much larger herd of sheep on the left than on the right. I distinctly remember trying to engage some College Democrats who were vandalizing Republican signs in 2004 as to why they supported John Kerry. Rather than participate in Socratic discourse, they became discouraged at their inability to efficiently articulate their argument, resorted to ad hominems and retired for the evening.
Don't kick me off my high horse just yet. I, too, was at one time a college ideologue who viewed things one-dimensionally. After going through the school of hard knocks of debating (whatever happened to the scheduled debates between the College Democrats and College Republicans?), I was forced to look deeper and explain why I held certain views. Here lies the point of my letter: The entire purpose of college is to be exposed to new and different ideas, grow and learn and set oneself up for success once leaving academia. It's good that people are passionate and involved with issues in our society. However, don't let the passion blind you from looking at things objectively. The moment you let feelings and misconceptions guide your decision-making process, you have failed to achieve the universal goal of higher education ' critical thinking.
I look back fondly at my time as an Ohio University student and quasi-political activist. In some regards I learned more trying to make change and getting my arguments across than I did in the classroom. Unfortunately, my political beliefs and activism have never been asked or even considered by my current employer. I consider my ability to analyze things objectively and take into account all sides of an argument my greatest asset. It is my advice that those who wish to meet with success in the real world take this into consideration the next time they embark on proving their beliefs without any research or evidence to support it.
' Curt Winzenreid is a 2005 graduate of Ohio University.
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Letter to the Editor
Students should not let passion blind objectivity
