Editor’s note: The following point/counterpoint will be presented in one column with the authors taking turns. Greg Jerrett will go first.

If you have been watching FoxNews lately, you will no doubt be aware of the heated controversy surrounding a growing threat to our nation, one that seeks to undermine and destroy all that is good, upstanding and moral: the unchecked proliferation and distribution of Monster Rock compilations. From power ballads to rock anthems, there has never been a greater scourge in this country. Men with big hair prancing about on stage, in tight trousers no less, wailing and crooning to beat the band and corrupt our youth 1980s style. Stop living in the past, America! Abandon the rank idolatry of hair bands.

Mr. Jerrett’s pathetic appeal to his ultimate “hipness” is exactly the kind of elitist attitude that bands like Night Ranger sought to destroy. Hair bands call to mind a simpler time, when America was still a place where dreams could come true. If Mr. Jerrett would prefer to listen to the watered down pop of alternative radio, so be it. Personally, I prefer to listen to the emotional intensity of a good power ballad or the balls to the wall power of a good rock anthem.

In response to “Mr.” Godar’s ill-conceived diatribe about the “emotional intensity” of a “good” power ballad, I would suggest that only good thing about pumped up power chords and big hair is that we don’t see them today. If Night Ranger was so good, where are they now? Hmmmm? I’ll tell you where. The county fair circuit bringing much needed thrills to the desperate lives of rapidly-aging single mothers who cannot give up the glory of their misspent youths. Perhaps if Mr. Godar spent more time listening to the radio today instead of playing the same crusty old Winger cassette over and over again, he would realize the world has grown up. He should consider doing the same.

Congratulations Mr. Jerrett, you’ve done it again. You’ve proven that you wouldn’t know a cultural phenomena from your own feces. If you follow Mr. Jerrett’s logic, we should all be listening to the radio, swooning at the sound of corporate stooges like Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys. Yes, Mr. Jerrett, I’ll grant you that Night Ranger’s glory days are over, but I counter by asking you where Christina Aguilera will be in five years? My guess is she’ll be hanging out someplace where there are a lot of sailors, performing the miracle for $20 or a hit of smack. Turn on the radio, Mr. Jerrett? No thanks.

Well, normally I am not tempted to respond to some of the outlandish and unprofessional things I see on a daily basis in the so-called Daily office, but this time I can no longer bite my tongue. I must give my 2 or even 3 cents worth. Get ready! I do not remember touting the glories of Ricky Martin or the Backstreet Boys, Mr. Godar. I think they are the Night Ranger of our times and I leave such flash-in-the-pan adoration to the shallow, tasteless likes of you. I suspect that in five years, Christina Aguilera will be doing better than you suggest. The modern rock aficionado, you are not. Put some Blink 182 in your crack pipe and smoke it, Mr. Godar.

Apparently, I am now a crack head in Mr. Jerrett’s eyes. Only a third rate hack like Mr. Jerrett would resort to such name calling. It also seems that Mr. Jerrett thinks Blink 182 is the height of western culture. I must apologize, Mr. Jerrett, I preferred them better the first time, when they were Green Day. Mr. Jerrett’s entire argument is centered around the premise that whatever KISS 107 puts on the air is inherently good. This is the kind of blind faith that leads to cults. Ever been to Uganda, Mr. Jerrett?

Well, if enjoying the hip, fresh sounds of today’s pop alternative scene makes me a cult leader, then call me Dominic Kataribabo. Perhaps Mr. Godar is unaware of the detrimental effects being stuck in the ’80s can have on a culture. Have you ever been to Omaha, Mr. Godar? Well, I have and I think you would feel right at home there listening to classic rock on five different stations 24 hours a day. Why stop with the “groovy” sounds of Night Ranger when you can have your fill of Poison, Motley Crue, Lita Ford and Europe all the livelong day? In Mr. Godar’s world, it is 1984 all day, every day. Well, Mr. Godar, I’ve read “1984,” sir, and I didn’t like that world much, Big Brother.

Mr. Kataribabo, would you please do us readers a favor and have a point? Your incoherent ramblings over modern rock, eastern Nebraska and Orwellian institutionalism are enough to make even the most hardened criminal regurgitate. Also “criminal,” is your categorical dismissal of rock legends like Poison and Motley Crue. Of course, we can’t expect an “enlightened” person like Mr. Jerrett to find the beauty in a blistering C.C. Deville guitar solo. Not everything good in this world comes in your fancy shmancy books Mr. Jerrett, some of us like to rock.

Well, apparently Ben “Rock Me Through The Night” Godar has missed the point entirely. A Poison guitar solo might be blistering, but so are many STDs. Your time came and went when most of this campus was still in short pants. But you wouldn’t know that Mr. Godar because your cave doesn’t get Channel Q 105. Perhaps the cable service in your cave only gets MTV from 20 years ago. You would no doubt also have us believe that films have not progressed since “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Bright Lights, Big City” and “Fletch.” Is the greatest TV drama in your world still “St. Elsewhere?” Please, Ben, stop forcing your outdated views on this campus.

In response to Greg “I think I know so much” Jerrett’s response, I think Mr. Jerrett needs to read up on his history. Believe it or not, Mr. Jerrett, we can learn from things that happened 20 years ago. In fact, 60 years ago, there were these people called Nazis. They stormed across Europe and executed over 10 million people. Of course, Mr. Jerrett would have us stop teaching our children about this in favor of more pretty pictures of Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath. If we forget about things like the Holocaust and Monster Rock, we are in danger of repeating them. I suggest Mr. Jerrett keep this in mind the next time he feels the need to spout off about “Fletch.”

How many times has Mr. Godar reduced the level of discourse on campus to mudslinging by calling those impertinent enough to disagree with him Nazis? Too many times to count. But being blessed with the long-term memory of a goldfish, Mr. Godar thinks each time is the first. I know too well the lessons of history, sir. Doomed to repetition? Sounds like you cruising around Ames High for a date in your Duster listening to Styx. Domo arigato, Mr. Godar. I don’t think so. History does indeed have much to teach us and one of those lessons is to be adaptive. Man would never have landed on the moon if everyone shared your attitude.

Apparently, I owe Mr. Jerrett an apology. I’m so sorry to have suggested that you don’t appreciate the past. I’m so sorry to have likened you to a group of fascists who just happened to hold your very same views on historicity and Austrian sovereignty. In case you can’t tell, I’m being sarcastic. You’re right Mr. Jerrett, it is important to be adaptive. But there’s no reason to be as adaptive as you, changing your wardrobe and mores with the latest trend. Do you think you’re so chic with your short hair and Tommy Jeans? Mr. Jerrett, I knew you when you were wearing Zubaz and a flat-top. As Cinderella points out, the “Winds of Change” are blowing. If you’re not careful, Mr. Jerrett, you may get blown away.

Shame on you, Mr. Godar. You fling more “stuff” than a chimpanzee on a fiber-rich diet. But you are right about one thing, there is change blowing in the wind. I believe it was Nietzsche who said the future belongs to those with the will make it their own. If you had bothered to do a little research before sitting down to your slate to crank out your latest opus, you would know that. But you didn’t. You put your foot in your mouth and not your money. You have once again derailed, Mr. Godar and I am not being sarcastic in case you couldn’t tell.

You can quote your Nee-Chee ’til the cows come home, Mr. Jerrett. The bottom line is that all this boils down to family values. Until people learn to take responsibility for their actions, this nation will never achieve its historical destiny. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, Mr. Jerrett, giants of rock. These troubadours of Americana, these poets of truth, these guitar gods have given us a gift more valuable than all the riches of this world. We can either reap the harvest of Monster Rock, or seal our fate as a nation with the kiss of death.

Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs. He is opinion editor of the Daily.

Ben Godar is a senior in sociology from Ames. He is an assistant arts and entertainment editor of the Daily.