I was reading The Globe last week and was surprised to see one student’s response to the “Legalize Marijuana?” poster that showed up near the Point Cafe.While Celeste Begandy makes many valid arguments in her opinion piece, “University shouldn’t influence students on political issues,” I think she missed the motivation behind the poster.I agree that it is interesting that the poster showed up around the same time The Globe ran an article I wrote on increased drug violations on campus, but to argue that this poster is politically motivated is irrational.While I was writing the article on the drug violations, I couldn’t help but notice a common theme in university faculty and staff members when I interviewed them: each and every person was worried.That sense of worry wasn’t directed to how the increase in violations would make the university look: it was directed to the health and well-being of the students. While we are at Point Park University, the faculty and staff are, to a degree, responsible for us, and we are like their own children.To impute ill motives on the administration, board and faculty of Point Park, and to claim they are trying to endorse one side of some type of political issue is nonsense. The university is endorsing a healthy, safe lifestyle for all students.Begandy said in her article that she felt insulted by the poster because as a high school student, she sat through “health classes, anti-drug assemblies, and has seen the effects of drug abuse on others …”I, too, sat through those health classes and anti-drug assemblies and unfortunately I, too, have seen the effects of drug abuse on, not just the abuser, but his or her family and friends. But with the increases in violations and usage, obviously some students haven’t gotten that message of the negative health effects. I cited a recent survey in my article from the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse that states one in every 15 high school students smokes marijuana – the highest rate in 30 years. The article also claims that smoking and alcohol abuse is lower in teens than in recent years.The survey claims the increased education in the negative effects of smoking and drinking has resulted in the decline. However, the lack of education about the negative effects of marijuana has led to an increase in usage.With the abundance of information and knowledge about the negative effects of marijuana, students who still use the drug either don’t know about the effects or simply don’t care.I believe Point Park is trying to educate students about the contents in marijuana and negative effects of the usage of this drug. The poster was just one way of doing so. Just look around, the university has an on-site alcohol and drug educator. It is this person’s job to educate students about alcohol and drugs and the negative consequences of usage.Was the wording on that poster that said “Legalize Marijuana?” the best possible way to go about spreading the message of the negative effects of marijuana usage? Probably not, but it sure did grab the attention of students.But to say the motive of the faculty and staff at the university is to push some political agenda on students or limit the way students look at controversial topics is just not accurate.However, one of the motives behind displaying the poster, besides to educate students about marijuana, may have also been to challenge the beliefs of the students on the controversial topic of marijuana use.Yes, Begandy was right when she said the poster made her a little uncomfortable. When our belief system is challenged, it should make us feel slightly uncomfortable. But having our belief systems and our ways of thinking challenged is one of the responsibilities of the university to make us better people. The people who created that poster were just doing their jobs, not pushing some crazy political agenda on students.