Selling out--not quite

Well bloggers I think I might have sold out,

For years I have wanted to be a proffesional writer. I enjoy writing, and thought it was a natural fit, but then somthing hit me like a ton of bricks.

Laying out pages is easy, fun, and makes you bank!

So of course the back seat novel, that only breathes fresh air on the rare occasion that time and inspiration intersect, will still be worked on; but will I totally neglect a job as a writer?

I think I might.

However when you have any passion in your body--not just your soul, but a tangible passion--it won't die. Tonight is going to be a witness to that.

Between school, work and sociality I have not written anything since Pluck. Tonight that changes. I am not sure what is boiling inside of me, but it is about to explode onto my computer screen and I am excited.

I am not sure if I have an essay, a rant, or a short story on my hands, but tonight will be fun. Tonight will be my favorite of all writing nights--rough draft night!

So I am off the buy a 6-pack of Pabst and a pack of cigarettes. I will let you see the work in a few weeks when it is finished.

Long live the rough draft!

Abstinence

Dear bloggers,

I finished my opinion piece on abstinence only education. I am actually rather proud of it. I found a way to assert an opinion I don't believe in with facts that I do. I didn't cop out and take a religious stance on it. I actually asserted a valid point. I don't think that what I did was in anyway dishonest.

Still, this article will appear under a pseudonym--Jack Smith. This is a combination of two of my favorite authors: Jack Kerouac and Charlotte Smith.

Here is the full version of the piece. Tell me what you think.

I am not a religious person. I say that not to degrade those in favor of my present position, but to convince those against it that the following will be a rational article, not given to the reasoning of archaic Judeo-Christian beliefs.
The problem with comprehensive sex education is that it gives no credit to our teens. By teaching comprehensive sex education, we are telling our kids that we have given up on their ability to make adult choices. We offer them pills and condoms because we do not believe they are strong enough to abstain.
As great a product as birth control is, it is not 100% effective. Every method is less effective when, not used according to the directions. For example, if the 967 students that attended SC-BU last semester had all been in comprehensive sex education, and—feeling they had all the knowledge to make smart decisions—had promiscuous sex, while using the birth control pill typically (forgetting a day here and there) 48 of our students would be a mother or father right now. If each student at SC-BU had sex and used a condom typically 135 students would most likely be with child now.
I am not advocating against safe sex. In this world were Planned Parenthood is advertising and television is advocating sex, children are smart enough to know how to protect themselves if they are going to be active. I believe that in the classroom, we should try to hold our students up to the caliber society expects from them. We must let them know the risks that each method of “prevention” comes with. We must let them know that abstinence is an option, one that they can achieve.

Does Truth Require a True Portrayal of the Writer?

Once again, The Bulldog (SC-BU's newspaper) is up and running for the semester. Mitch held a meeting, and I just went to go see what was going on. Before I knew what was going on however, I was being assigned stories, and contributing my own ideas. Oh how easy it is to convince a writer to write.

The next day, as I am running from class to class, Nikki stops me and hands me a sheet with my first assignment, and tells me to attend the meeting later that day. I look at my assignment. It's a basic write-up on the new club in school--UMOJA-NIA. UMOJA-NIA is a club that encourages African American culture. It's an easy assingment and I didn't think too much about it, even while I was writing the piece.

My dilema comes later that day, while I am at the meeting. Danielle (one of the page editors) needs an opinion piece to counter her own. The article is supposed to be on why schools should teach absitence only education. Sadly, our newspaper lacks neo-cons, and no one could honestly writer the counter argument. Still, I volunteered for it.

I know I can write the piece, that's not the dilema looming ahead of me. I wonder if writing an opinion piece that I don't agree with is wrong. Am I misleading people to who I am? Does that matter? Can I stomach the knowledge that I may persuade someone to agree with me? Does that matter?

So I talk to my girlfriend. She laughes at me. She sees nothing wrong with me writing a piece like that. "Why not?" she asks, "They need the piece, who cares who writes it?"

I gues she's right. As long as I am true to the agenda that I am writing about, it's not really my opinion. I am just speaking for those whose voice we don't have. I doubt this small piece will convince anyone to chage thier mind. I am just going to give those who already agree with it more points, and those who disagree more to think about. Even if it does change someone's mind, it's not my ideas. I am just a vessel for the absitence only education people.

Still, I am writing this one under a pseudonym. Look for my article in The Bulldog under the name Jack Smith.