Students aren't the only ones who can join a crowd.
During the 2008 presidential election, college students, including those from Ball State, were a key source for the momentum Barack Obama gained in his victory against Sen. John McCain.
Now, the tea party is coming together in planned protests, such as Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
Regardless of your opinion of Beck or the tea party, this is a organized group with a message against those currently in office.
In the lead up to the November midterm election, students need to stay informed and involved in politics.
The troubling aspect about the current political atmosphere is the use of false information. It's one thing to disagree with the new health care plan. It's another to accuse Obama of being a secret Muslim.
People can't even agree on how many people actually attended the rally Saturday. Some have put the attendance numbers at 500,000, while CBS's figures say 87,000.
As Sen. Daniel Patrick said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
The hard thing about finding what's true and what's not is the biases that are hidden within news groups. Everyone has figured out that Fox News caters to the right and MSNBC to the left. It's the same story online. Bloggers and websites are presenting their political opinions as the truth.
So where can you go to find unfiltered facts? Sites such as politifact.com and factcheck.org try to cut through the spin and give a reader a real view of what's going on.
We all have our political beliefs, but the debates we have can't disintegrate into name-calling. Comment threads often become the place to insult the last person to say something because they're "wrong." We see it at bsudailynews.com all the time.
If someone says something you don't agree with, don't just call the person a moron. Articulate your points, and be prepared to back them up with facts.
The primary way for us as students to be a part of poltics is to vote.
According to researchers at George Mason, total voter turnout in the state of Indiana for the 2006 midterm election was 37.7 percent. In 2008, the turnout for the presidential election was 60.5 percent.
Students voted in record numbers in 2008, but there's still a large percentage of those who didn't. We need to do our part again. That means registering to vote. Deadlines to register (Oct. 4) and apply for an absentee ballot (Oct. 25) in Indiana will be here before you know it.
College students were lauded with praise for being involved in 2008. That needs to continue this year and beyond.
Read about what's going on in government. It might feel as if it doesn't affect you as much as the other pressing issues of life – such as classes, family or who you're going to the football game with Thursday – but it really does. You'll be paying for your own health care and taxes before you know it.
Stay involved in the conversation. Let's just keep it civil.
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