KentNewsNet.com

Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: Features

Kristen Thompson, senior Public Relations major and Political Science minor is making her voice heard by being involved with many social and charity groups on campus. TRACY TUCHOLSKI | SUMMER STATER

Kristen Thompson, senior public relations major, believes being patriotic is akin to being informed.

"Patriotism to me is not believing everything that's advertised through campaigning, through people representing people and being literate enough to derive your own opinion about the world and to find your own beliefs," she said.

Thompson said she tries to read every newspaper she can. She'll talk your ear off for an hour about U.S. energy policy or the corporate pressure on government in America.

She wants to work for the government when she gets out of college because she'd like to inform the public about its policies and raise awareness.

"Being an American is making proper decisions, and I think we're all capable of doing that if we obtain the right sources and educate ourselves," she said.

She said she is grateful about the rights that have been afforded to her in her life, such as her educational opportunities and her access to food and water.

Thompson has taken part in anti-Guantanamo Bay protests on campus. Protesting, she said, is a way to make people take notice of government policies, policies, she said, many times "our government doesn't inform us of."

"I believe protesting is important to raise awareness of students," she said. "We're doing something that's out there, jumping in their faces to make a point in the most peaceful way we can to raise awareness, as an effective way for people to understand what's going on."

Her Fourth of July will involve taking the Mega Bus with a friend from Cleveland to Chicago and "couch surfing" in an apartment there. She's already set up for a rooftop party, complete with fireworks. The Fourth of July, she said, is a chance for Americans to express their senses of nationalism and pride.

"We want to celebrate it; we want to pound our chests like a bunch of cavemen," she said.

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