This must scare the living s**t out of 90% of the readers of the New York Times Magazine. What's worse for them is that at least some must be awake enough to know that conversion from liberalism in youth to conservatism as one ages is so commonplace that it is practically the norm, but the reverse is very unusual. These students won't become liberals as they grow older they'll just come into power with much of what they believe now intact.
In a weird way, being right wing, is starting to become the equal of being left wing back in the 50 or early 60's. Its the renagade rebel thing. When I was in college, I used to love provoking my socialist teachers, the fact that they couldn't debate themselves out of a brown paper bag, made it even better.I got a kick out of calling my self an anti-environmentalist.
Honestly, I'm grown up now, but the fact is, being right, and being a rebel, do have an appeal, when idiots are around, you will always have the urge to show them up, and being smarter, and different, does have a awesome appeal.