Hello everyone, we hope you had a wonderful break and holiday season and we hope this new semester finds you all in good health. Formalities aside, with the coming of the new year, we ask you to make yet another resolution. This year if you are 18 or older, or will be 18 by November, we ask you to register and vote in the 2016 elections. This election is quickly escalating to one of the most pivotal in our history, with some starkly contrasting, and highly controversial ideas on both sides of the table. With world changing battles being waged on issues like gun control, climate change and police brutality whoever we elect as our nation’s next leader is going to determine the future of our children and our planet.

However it is not just the presidential race that is going to centrally define the issues and actions that will define and heavily impact our generation; it is also imperative for you to also pay attention to congressional, state, and local elections. Contrary to popular opinion, the President does not hold all the cards when it comes to our government, and government inaction is often the result of our primary branch of government: Congress. Each US Representative represents around 700,000 people like you, and each Senator represents their entire state. Yet in spite of their obligation and duty to represent and act, often times they are more concerned with fundraising for their contingent re-elections, and spend less time on focusing on their constituents. Furthermore, it becomes more and more apparent that they benefit from the general ignorance of most people for being unable to name their own federal and state representatives.

However it is easy to find out exactly who represents you in our state and federal government. If you head to http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/, you can easily find your district, and the representatives in the house and senate. Similarly, if you need to know your state representatives here and there, head to http://house.michigan.gov/MHRPublic/. With that knowledge, you are also given the means to contact them, and ways to find out exactly what they’re doing, and with this you can then decide if you would want to support them later on, or vote them out for someone who you can ascern to be a better leader.

With that, we urge you to head to the polls this year armed with knowledge, empowered with the ability as a member of a democratic society to choose who leads. We hope this semester is the best yet, and we wish you the best of luck this new year. We hope you continue to follow our column, and remember to keep an eye out for what’s true, and what’s not.