Today the Richardson Court Association is hosting Free Speech Day in the RCA courtyard. And good for them, too. Somebody around here needs to do the legwork for the First Amendment.

Free speech is to democracy what exercise is to the human body. Without exercise, the body withers, weakens and dies. Without free speech, democracy does the same thing.

The free speech forum is part of “Dormstock 2000,” this year’s residence hall week celebration. The forum is in direct response to “free speech zones” on the ISU campus that attempt to designate areas where groups or individuals with agendas can freely speak.

What a joke. Is there anything more offensive to basic American ideals?

Are we wrong, or wasn’t the entire United States designated a free speech zone at some point in this nation’s great history?

We thought we heard that one someplace. Oh yeah, it was the Bill of Rights.

Limiting free speech is the first step to hated despotism. Hitler did it. Stalin did it. Governments we generally consider to be enemies to freedom do it all the time. We hate and revile them for it. We use it as fuel to fire up the war machine.

But then Americans have been described as sheep who live to be shorn. So confident are we in our superior democratic ideals that we rarely stand up for them.

We just assume that if we do nothing to defend the First Amendment, it will mysteriously still be there one day when we need it.

It does not work that way.

If you love freedom and democracy (and let’s face it, most of us do), come on out and support the American way of life.

Listen to a few speakers and get up there and say a few things yourself.

You not only have the right, now you’ve got the forum as well.

Maybe you have wanted to get a few things off your chest about UFO conspiracies. Maybe you want to talk about something really crazy, like how you feel about the administration or the decline of situation comedies at the end of the 20th century. The sky is the limit.

Speakers will include Government of the Student Body senator Luke DeKoster, GSB President-elect Ben Golding, GSB senator Jenny Larson, members of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, as well as the Daily’s own cartoonist Carmen Cerra and Editor in Chief Sara Ziegler.

Any other student who wants to speak is invited to join them.

Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights to free speech.

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Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.