What woman, not in your family, do you admire most,and why?

In an age where beauty and wealth are valued over intelligence and insight, itis not uncommon for young women to name Gwyneth Paltrow or Jennifer Aniston as women they admire.While both have admirable qualities and talents, they aren't my choice of ideal role models. The woman Imost admire and feel is a great role model for young women is Suzanne Fields. As a syndicated columnistfor the Washington Times, she recognizes, and speaks out on, issues which may not otherwise beaddressed.

In a recent article, "Paradise Deconstruct-ed," Fields addresses the factthat many conservative women on college campuses feel a tremendous hesitancy to state their opinions in aliberal setting. The free and open debate once nurtured in colleges, the traditional "paradise" forintellectual growth, has seemingly ceased to exist and non-feminist, traditional thought has become thenorm. While I find Fields' views more reactionary than my own, I believe she has a point. Students whospeak out on the conflicts of feminism and family or critique affirmative action may be attacked not only bytheir peers but by professors as well.

In articles and lectures, Fields encourages young women todefend their views and not apologize for their beliefs. She reminds young women that equal rights were notalways theirs to enjoy; only by the perseverance of women working for change were equal rightsgranted.

Fields espouses a conservative view of American society, but however uncommon herviews, I find it refreshing to read a conservative point-of-view in our largely liberal media. I admire andrespect Suzanne Fields not only for her views, but also for her courage to take a stand andencourage others to do the same.