Did you exercise your right today?

This petite woman stood infront of our class and coaxed us to follow her through the semester. Dr Ischida was going to change our mindset. The way we viewed media specifically. I had liked her from the get go. She was different from the other professors I had taken before. She was passionate about her subject. She asked us to talk about our assigment as she walked around listening in. We were discussing how we were swimming in mass media each day and didn't know anything about it. She asked us to explain how the TV stations could create a niche market and know we are going to tune in. Nielsen Ratings off course.

When we talked about the net though I was suprised to see that apart from two other students in the class, no one else knew what cookies was? Dr Ischida nearly fainted. She looked shocked as she tried to explain what cookies was. You'd think that would be the last of the suprises in store for the poor woman. I don't know how we came upon the topic of the primary's but today in MN, everyone was voting. Katelin and I were the only people who knew that was going on. The rest of the class was dumbfounded and unconcerned.

I am a bonefide American now but I confess that today I didn't exercise my newly earned right. Why? because I didn't have the right tools to make the right decision. I haven't being able to look up the candidates and see what their platforms were. The presidential elections are not that far away. I should get cracking on this. I feel appalled that even though I knew the primary's were today I didn't know the issues. I am turning into an uninformed American.

Should non voting be considered political suicide or political action? Should the young voting masses of Americans remain uninformed because they don't see a reason why they should be?They are cut off from the world off course. Their closest neighbours are Mexicans and Canadians. Americans live a relatively comfortable life without war, hunger, disease breathing down their necks. Has this made them complacent? Have I become complacent?

Whether we like to admit it or not Americans shape the world. Their vote puts someone in the Whitehouse who will change domestic policy and moreover change foreign policy, thus shouldn't Americans be informed? Shouldn't they be able to strike off the issues that each candidate represents at the drop of a hat? Should the world be scared to know that a large percentage of the 10 million young people who vote, are not even sure who their state representative is?

All I know is I will be reading newspapers and checking up on C-Span and the net each day to make sure I don't become an uninformed consumer. If you have a brother/sister/mother or father who is eligible to vote this year please make sure they are aware of the power they possess. We shouldn't commit political suicide by not voting or by voting without the right information!