With Fall Break less than 48 hours away, it seems silly to be thinking about anything national in scope; but the election is only twelve days away! With the two candidates running nearly even scarcely three weeks before the big day, getting to the polls can mean a lot for the future of the United States.

I realize that many students don't feel the election is relevant, especially with the focus on issues like Social Security, prescription drugs, and Medicare. After all, our need for these programs is decades away. However, most of us have parents or even grandparents still living and they will need these benefits much sooner. Our vote has bearing on people we care about, now and for the future.

Even though it can have present relevance, voting isn't just about the four years following. Many young people have complained that the problems of previous generations have piled up for us to deal with-future deficits in Social Security, an immense national debt, and the breakdown of families. Our generation might be the first in many generations to actually face more adversity than our parents, economically and socially.

However, digging in the trenches won't solve our nation's problems, just like it didn't win World War I. We need to recruit and mobilize to take back our political process, to make politicians consider the issues with both current and potential impact on our generation. Forget "shoring up" Social Security or who gets nominated to the Supreme Court in the next presidential cycle. We need to get to the root of our social ills, asking why supporting our parents and grandparents is so expensive or why abortions happen at all. Instead of allowing baby boomers to borrow against our future, we need to send people to Congress to consider youth issues. I don't mean teen pregnancy or education, per se, but that we can't let our nations representative body reel from crisis to crisis when we come of age. We have to deal with the problems now-and that means voting.

In fact, participation in politics is much more than casting a ballot. We need to engage in conversation about the way our society is structured. We have to question why women still cannot receive equal pay or blacks in Minneapolis are stopped at twenty times the rate of whites. This isn't about affirmative action or the culture of poverty, but about engaging each other in dialogue about our future.

As the Political Awareness Coordinator, I really detest hearing people say, "I hate politics" or "I don't care." I understand what they mean: that watching the media sensationalize Congressional negotiations is sickening, but politics is supposed to be the source of our problem solving. The national legislature is the place where we deliberate about the national roadblocks to democratic society and work to dismantle them. It's not about partisanship or power; government is of, by, and for the people-even those who attend school in a bubble.

St. Olaf can be an insulating experience, giving us a little world of our own to play in. We have few concerns with welfare, defense, or prescription drug coverage. In all honesty, we've been handed this life on a silver platter and we should make the best of every part of it. So, please, get to the polls November 7th, start making our democratic government listen to people it's been able to ignore for years-give young people a voice again.

Vote November 7th! Buses will be running all day to the polls! Questions or concerns with the election? Contact PAC Coordinator John Farrell: x3045 or farreljf@stolaf.edu