OREM — Utah Valley State College President William Sederburg thinks the controversy surrounding filmmaker Michael Moore's visit to the Orem campus will be good for UVSC.

He thinks the school's ongoing efforts to become a four-year university will be helped by the political discourse resulting from the ruckus over Moore.

"We need civil discourse," Sederburg said during a panel discussion Tuesday about the controversy. "We need civil discourse. We need to learn to deal with uncomfortable issues. And we need to respect a variety of different opinions and points of views that might not necessarily agree with us all the time."

Sederburg knows the school will suffer some financial repercussions as a result of Moore's visit to campus.

The president is busy dealing with disgruntled donors and legislators who aren't pleased with a decision by student government leaders to pay Moore $40,000 to speak on Oct. 20.

But he said the lively debate created by the controversy will increase UVSC's profile.

"I remember sitting in student government last year and hearing that 40 percent of people in the state didn't know what UVSC was" said Joe Vogel, UVSC's student government vice president. "I think they know now."

On Tuesday, students, professors and people who live in the community packed a large classroom to discuss the issues that have turned the college into a philosophical battleground.

Based on applause and the comments shared by the audience, most in attendance supported UVSC's decision to bring the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director to UVSC, even if they disagreed with Moore's personal politics.

But Kay Anderson, who lives across the street from the Orem campus, isn't happy about a decision that he said will "redefine the perimeter" of acceptable events at UVSC.

"I don't think I should have to send my child to a private university in order to get a conservative education when I live in a conservative community and I have a state college in my back yard that is paid for with conservative taxpayer dollars and funding," Anderson said.

As an incentive to get UVSC to cancel Moore's appearance, Anderson brought along a cashier's check for $25,000 — enough to reimburse the school for all general admission tickets sold to the event.

No one took Anderson up on his offer, and students booed his suggestion.

"Maybe it's a good thing that it took Michael Moore to wake us up from this coma we've been in," UVSC sophomore Brian Maier said.

"And the next time they raise tuition . . . maybe we can all do the same thing and everyone will be up in arms about something that is more about us graduating and less about our points of view."

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E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com