Her name is Lauren Weiner, she's 20 years old, she went to my high school, and she's a terrorist.

The FBI recently arrested Lauren for her involvement in the planning and preparation of a series of domestic attacks under the auspices of the Earth Liberation Front, a recognized terrorist organization. They sought the destruction of cell phone towers and U.S. Forest Service labs, among others. Lauren's FBI report highlights her preference for "direct-action", as well as her support for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. An eco-anarchist, Lauren "expressed her desire to create a state of martial law and undermine corporations." Mind-boggling hypocrisy aside, bomb-making materials were purchased at Wal-Mart and Kmart.

Admittedly, had this been any other person, I would have never given the article another look. While no rational individual could even attempt to defend these actions, we instinctively rush to minimize such radicalism; we call it a "negligible minority," the work of a few "twisted minds," but never do we find fault within ourselves. This was different-I knew her, not well by any means, but a senior class of 200 can do that. More importantly, I knew the school, I knew her teachers, I knew the ideas instilled and reinforced, and I knew her friends and mentors. Only two years out of high school, probably her sole formative intellectual experience, memories of the recent past could not be far off. ,I found myself revaluating my own high school experience. How did those four years shape who it is that I would become? How did I become an exception?

The answer frightened me; two years of a Columbia education had provided much-needed hindsight and clarity. The rampant progressivism and muddled indoctrination bestowed by ivory tower elites with the "education" moniker is not limited to those hallowed institutions of higher learning. While I may only speak from a personal, East-Coast experience, the trend toward liberal and progressive thought in all such vestiges of academia has long been accounted for and documented. In a county that calls itself home to noted Republicans Sue Kelly, Jeanine Pirro, and George Pataki, the Fox Lane High School faculty boasted only a handful of openly conservative or Republican teachers. Often ostracized by their peers for their beliefs, they were indeed a rare breed. Unfortunately, it would take some 12 years of schooling before I met them.

I was, by all accounts, a product of this liberal institution. Come ninth grade and the 2000 election, I found myself voting for then-Vice President Al Gore in a mock election. With nothing more than a strange affinity for the "lockbox" (mandatory hand quotes included), my understanding of the national consensus was the Democratic talking points summarily articulated eight periods a day. I can still remember those rare occasions when I veered from the liberal consensus. I was a lowly freshman in debate club, arguing the merits of Arctic drilling against a dozen upperclassmen, always leaving a room claiming devil's advocate, hoping to promote and preserve some semblance of conformity.

But what about Lauren? In between failed attempts to shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant with her environmental club or to promote some new alternative vegan lifestyle, she could fall back on the stereotypical ex-hippie turned art teacher and environmental activist. If not wholly sympathetic to her environmental activism, Lauren's educators failed in establishing boundaries. Simply, nobody ever told her she was wrong. Be it a combination of the New Age, purple-pen nonsense, and general ideological concord, Lauren was able to manage her way through four crucial developmental years with only the occasional rebuff from conservative and disinterested peers.

Take 11th grade Advanced Placement U.S. History, a class that left a sound historical grounding open to the increasingly incoherent rants of a left-wing radical. I can still remember those "engaging lessons," in which a series of impeachment trials were to be argued by the students. Amazingly, out of 23 or so students, only one found then-president Bill Clinton guilty of perjury or deserving of impeachment. Dejectedly, I must report that I was the trial's defense lawyer. Worse, the teacher made no effort to correct us; rather, he applauded our decision and proceeded with his lecture. It would be an utter failure in judgment to believe that an education that neglects to promote morality and reverence for jurisprudence and authority can produce a student who can respect and deal civilly with others. When I realized the error of my ways, change quickly followed. What was required, however, was a purge of the "Marxist critical lens" introduced in ninth grade English, Foner-esque "new social history," and the progressive theories that marred a valuable education. I left high school looking to start anew, to think independently, and to question the wisdom of all "sophisters, economists, and calculators," and not, as I once had, accept things blindly.

Sadly, I can't say the same thing for Lauren.

Institutions of learning, Fox Lane and Columbia alike, have a responsibility to produce socially responsible individuals. Encouraging a diversity and breadth of ideas is fundamental to their purpose, but to encourage radicalism that spurns civil discourse is never acceptable.

Chris Kulawik is a Columbia College sophomore. Chris Shrugged runs on alternate Wednesdays.