This week our campus is being visited by Tom Short.

Most readers will recognize him as the really loud preacher guy on campus.

I am not affiliated with any religious group on this campus or in Ames. I do have my faith.

Like many people on this campus, I have doubts at times. I am not a real religious person and praying just doesn’t do a lot for me.

Having a guy around like Tom, who has heard almost everything you have to throw at him, is a great sounding board.

He has unwittingly helped my faith immensely over the past three years by just coming out here and being a sounding board for criticism from hundreds of students and myself.

If you believe that Tom is just another no education bible thumper, you are dead wrong. Tom graduated from Ohio State and has an immense wealth of knowledge.

He can quote writers of several genres, knows dates that would make any history teacher proud, and he has his own life experiences to draw on.

I guess what I am trying to say is just open your mind to what he says. You may not agree with everything he says — maybe nothing he says — but I guarantee that by listening to him for 15 minutes you will start to see some things differently.

You may not realize it right away; it took me a full year before I understood what he had done for me.

So do those things that you tell other people to do, keep an open mind and don’t judge people by what they say.

Judge people by how they affect the way YOU see the world, not how they see it.

Jed D. Winkelman

Junior

Zoology