For years, I wanted to be the opinion columnist. What greater gift could I bestow upon the students and faculty of Loyola than my brilliant thoughts and analyses?

Surely everyone wants to hear that I don’t like Bush. And my feelings on campus recycling (or lack thereof) would keep students enthralled to the last, perfectly chosen word.

To that end, I wrote several guest columns that could generously be described as “feisty,” or, if you’re mean, “spew-filled rants.”

And now here I am. And I don’t want the position anymore.

I spent last summer in D.C., interning at a magazine staffed with people that understand politics better than I ever will. They knew the names of every aide down to the interns. They could list the gifts a lobbyist had given any senator, and they read every piece of legislation authored.

It was a humbling experience, to say the least. While there were a lot of liberal writers, there were a lot of conservative ones, too. Interacting with all of them made me realize that no ideology has a monopoly on intelligence, ethics or rightness. Two thoughtful people can ponder an issue for years and come to completely different conclusions, both of which are valid and should be respected.

Opinion columns are so masturbatory. The underlying assumption is that your thoughts are special enough that others should read them. If you’re Colin Powell or Bill Clinton, that assumption is true. If you’re a college student, it’s probably not.

I’m not saying that debate and dialogue aren’t important. We only grow intellectually when we talk – and listen – to people whose ideas are radically different from ours. But the printed word allows for little feedback, and 500 words is never enough to write a supported argument for anything, except perhaps that the Nazis were bad. And we all know that anyway.

So this is my first and last column as a regular columnist. I’m more interested in giving people information than telling them what to think about it, and it’s an amazing time to be a journalist in New Orleans. Perhaps if I feel really, really strongly about something I’m well informed on, I’ll write a guest column. But probably not.

I can’t resist the opportunity to boss people around a tiny bit, so here’s my advice for the semester; you can take it for what it’s worth. Be incredibly happy you’re back at Loyola, because this place is amazing.

Remember that even though our campus is OK, our city is nowhere close. Give as much time as you can to helping, because 99 percent of New Orleanians weren’t as fortunate as students.

And while it’s great to listen to others’ opinions, for the love of God, read the news too, and come to your own conclusions.