Congress shall make no law . . .

After being here for nearly a semester, everything on campus is starting to become familiar - cave-like brick buildings, $3 sandwiches, the cameras that make me avoid the Student Union, and the general reluctance of students to be opinionated.

Often, as a reporter, I find that only one out of three or so students are willing to have their names published alongside their opinions, whether the issue is controversial or not. This often bugs me - I don't ask questions because I think people need a vent or because I enjoy hearing other's complaints. My ear will become filled with strong, intelligent complaints and arguments for 15 minutes; my hand starts to cramp, I'm getting excited as I think of what the student is adding to my article - then I get the finale:

"By the way, don't publish my name."

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Unfortunately, the first amendment makes no allowance for societal fear. I'm sure students wonder what their classmates, friends, and professors will think of them. Might one negative or positive opinion in the student newspaper expose a student to a McCarthian-type purge sometime in the future, or kill the aspirations of some budding politician? I don't know. However, never committing yourself to an opinion will lead you nowhere.

Fear of speech ties into the vast, confusing unwritten law of political correctness. "Congress shall make no law . . .," but, however, one wrong word can get you fired, trigger an onslaught of hate mail, and effectually ruin your life. I'm not advocating racial, religious, or sexual slurs; I am, however, speaking of limitations. I would like to meet the professor who would tolerate the use of racial slurs in a paper against the use of racial slurs. One must know something in order to have an opinion on it, and yet political correctness and the withholding of opinions have the effect of increasing ignorance.

Political correctness extends even into UB's academic calendar, although somewhat inconsistently. Why is it we have Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah off, and yet, around the last Thursday of November, we have "Fall Break"? Thanksgiving, although largely influenced by religion, is a federal holiday. I am bothered by the failure of the university to honor Veteran's Day. Is it afraid of being too patriotic? If so, we'll need to do away with the Fourth of July and Memorial Day.

It just occurred to me that perhaps I shouldn't be using the word "holiday." It may be offensive to atheists. Oh, well.

Many college students, away from the closeting influence of family and childhood friends, are just now beginning to shape their own opinions and actually think about what their opinions have always been and why. The desire to cocoon oneself during this process is understandable, yet now is a wonderful opportunity to sound out your opinions on others. Speak out in class when possible - do so now, when the biggest consequence of doing so is being rudely cut down by classmates and the professor. There are very few professors who grade based on the student's opinion. (I will admit that there are some, and taking a class with them is a horrible and useless experience.) If your opinion is not worth arguing for, why bother even to have it?

Changing one's opinion on the basis of solid evidence and conviction is not humiliating; everyone needs to learn how to express themselves in unqualified statements. No might's, no maybe's, no perhaps'. Exist in a confident mind, and see your confidence as extending to your ability to change. Fear of giving offense is the root of the United States's societal decline.