The right to free speech belongs to everyone in this country. No matter how ludicrous one might think another’s opinions are, each person has the right to express himself as long as he does not impose upon the rights of others.

The Northern Star printed an editorial column Monday from Jerry Thompson, the newspaper’s adviser. In this column, Thompson took a strong stance against war protesters calling them cheerleaders for Saddam Hussein.

As one might imagine, protesters are not taking too kindly to Thompson’s words. Many have written “letters to the editor” and a comparable amount have been calling President La Tourette to complain and might even be requesting Thompson be fired for allowing his views to be printed.

This is where it comes time to set the record straight.

First off, for those who feel Thompson’s opinions are a direct reflection of the Star employees, you are blatantly wrong.

Just like in any other group, political opinions within the Star’s walls—especially the newsroom—span across the political spectrum. There are employees who are dreaming of the day Jesse Jackson will be elected president. And there are others who one would expect to sleep with Ronald Reagan’s picture under their pillows at night.

Differing opinions also exist between the four members of the Editorial Board —Greg Rivara, Bill Schwingel, Mark McGowan and myself—who are responsible for the daily editorial views.

In this small group alone there is a self-proclaimed liberal, a self-proclaimed conservative and two who fall somewhere in between. But in no way could one correctly say that all four agree with Thompson’s view of war protesters.

In addition to the multitude of views that fly through the Star everyday, another issue that seems to come into play is this idea that “old man Thompson runs that paper, and what he wants gets printed.”

Thompson is an instrumental part of the newspaper and in the students’ lives who work at the Star. But that does not mean he runs the paper and always gets his way.

More accurately, his job reflects his title—Thompson is the adviser. He does not sit in on the daily news conference when editors decide what stories to run and where. Thompson also does not have the authority to have whatever he wants printed.

The column printed Monday went through the same scrutiny given to any other guest column or letter. In fact, it received even more scrutiny. Thompson presented his piece to the newspaper editors and asked permission to submit it.

This does not mean the editors agreed or disagreed with him on any level. Believe it or not, we don’t agree with many of the letters that are printed. All it means is we gave him the opportunity to express himself as we do with other writers on the editorial page everyday.

Old opinions are hard to change, and no matter how far from the truth it might be, people believe what they want to believe.

The truth of the matter is, student editors control the content of the newspaper. And as long as this student editor is around, people will have the opportunity to get their opinions printed no matter how much I might disagree.