For the last several weeks, the Macalester campus has been inundated with chalkings, posters, speakers and other endorsements intended to get every student involved in the barest minimum of the political process: voting. Now that the elections are over, it's time to lapse back into political hibernation, periodically throwing your arms up in disgust until the next election. This course of inaction is exactly what those in power who view our age group as entirely irrelevant, ignorant and inconsequential want us to do. That is, unless you want your voice to be heard.

Democracy happens every day, not just on Election Day. Voting is the most basic of democratic acts, but should be neither the beginning nor the end of political expression. The vote is simply too broad and amorphous to fully convey your opinion about particular issues. The elections are over; whether or not you liked the outcome, a new political landscape exists. Policies implemented during the next two years will influence the rest of our lives, but we can also influence those policies. By keeping informed about the issues, mobilizing around them and lobbying your representatives, you have the power to affect public policy.

Government will continue to operate, whether or not you're involved. Too often, large moneyed interests are able to manipulate the political process to serve their own ends. But this fact in no way legitimates dropping out of the process; doing so only makes it easier for the public interest to be subverted. Sustained public input is absolutely necessary to ensure that elected officials are faithfully representing your interests. That input is so much stronger when organized collectively than when expressed individually. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In order to realize the strength of a collective voice, we need to organize effectively. In the words of Ralph Nader, "If you don't turn on to politics, politics will turn on you."

This past Tuesday, the first in what will hopefully become a series of citizen training workshops was held, sponsored by MPIRG, Mac Dems, Mac Greens and the Political Science Department. It dealt with very general principles of grassroots organizing and strategic lobbying. In the future, we hope to focus on particular issues such as affordable housing, civil rights, energy policy, labor and welfare reform.

Writing articles about political awareness and participation to the Macalester community is somewhat preaching to the choir. Students here are more informed and interested than the majority of our age group. Yet that's precisely why we, as students and as citizens, need to take a more active role in creating the world we will inherit. Become an advocate for your future. The resources are out there; the need is pressing. Start gaining the skills to translate your ideals into action. Ultimately, the goal of education is not enlightenment, but action.