10/14/08 the Daily Interlake printed an AP article about the influence of college peers vs college professors on political views. It stated that "On issues such as abortion, gay marriage and religion, college students shift noticeably to the left from the time they arrive on campus through their junior year...after college, students move somewhat back to the right. Overall, students were nearly as likely after three years of college to call themselves 'conservative" or 'far right.'" The conclusion of the analysts was that while it is known that "college faculty lean left politically," this doesn't have as much influence as some think. The range in college faculty of Democrats : Republicans ratio is 4:1 to 16:1, dramatically favoring Democrats. It is known that Democrats tend to lean left--more agnostic, socialist, big government than private enterprise and respect for God, the Bible and the sanctity of human life. The fact is, left-leaning views are directly infused into textbooks and lectures including the sciences. Of course that affects impressionable minds.

      There are other explanations why, the older the students get, the more they shift to conservative viewpoints. For one, the brain's frontal lobes often don't develop until in their 20s, sometimes 30s. Not only do younger people often lack judgment, but also experience, and they are more prone to fads. Furthermore, college-age people today were raised with a culture of entitlement that may make them more attracted to socialist reliance on government rather than principles of self-reliance and hard work. Probably most importantly is the fact that modern conservative principles are timeless because they're rational, fair and effective for running a nation.

      While all conservatives are not Republicans and not all Republicans are conservative, their platforms overlap. Not so with the Democratic platform that advocates more government meddling. A summary of my understanding of modern US conservative principles is as follows: Though recognizing its imperfections, conservatives unashamedly acknowledge the greatness of this country and our blessedness to live here. We are proud to be Americans and consider patriotism a virtue. We recognize the reason citizenship here is more sought after than anywhere else is because of our liberty and free enterprise-that an immigrant can come here with very little but work hard to make for themselves a better life. While recognizing that a wise and just government will choose to assist individuals truly disabled, conservatives encourage self-determination and reliance/individualism and think hard work and ingenuity deserve reward. This is in contradistinction to our new Democratic liberal president who wants to redistribute hard-earned money to those that don't work or choose to do less for themselves. We believe the big government welfare state harms those it is intended to help, by discouraging incentive thereby creating a culture of entitlement.

      Conservatives hold the US Constitution to its original intention/interpretation-supreme court justices are there to rule in cases, not make laws (not legislate from the bench), first and second amendments are to be maintained, and Roe v wade is unconstitutional. We believe in giving more control to state and local governments as was intended based on our foundational documents in order to bring more power to the people.

      Conservatives believe the single most important, and most legitimate, role of government is to defend its people and its sovereignty. Our nation's foreign policy must be directed toward that one goal: to keep us safe by winning battles against terrorists and enemy nations-not to spread worldwide democracy or protect economic interests. Such policy is based on harsh realities of economic limitations and our enemies. Other than that, like our nation's founders, we believe in small government, the smaller and unintruding the better. Conservatives are not Libertarians because we recognize the need of protection from enemies within and without, and we need infrastructure and some rules.

      The US government, based on our founding principles, is beholden to the people, and free, sovereign people are its source of power. The American people must take their rightful reins of power, rather than trusting an intellectual elite that thinks they can run our lives better than we can ourselves. Strong families are our future, and government must empower families to pass on values and traditions. Elites want government to replace parents, thinking government rather than family knows best in terms of education, values and traditions . They want to indoctrinate children with government-enforced media-ordained Hollywood values and morality as well as anti-USA, anti-Christian agendas. In contrast, conservatives revere God and His impartation of the sanctity of human life.

      The divide between the people and the elite leaders became clear in the debate over immigration reform. The people stood up and said no to Z-visas, in-state tuition, driver's licenses and free medical care for illegal aliens. As the people won, they experienced their ability to influence the corrupt system. Amnesty for illegal immigrants was temporarily stopped, demonstrating our power to make our elected officials carry out their duty to protect and defend the US. It is our civic duty to question and challenge our government. Fellow conservatives, hold your ground; don't cave into the pressure to water down or otherwise change your principles; hold Republican representatives accountable to these principles and we can get this country back on its feet. Conservative principles are practical, time tested, intellectually sound, and based on reality. For this reason, the principles and individuals can be discouraged and beaten down but they won't go away.

Roland Horst