I was in the Collegian newsroom last Thursday night after attending a College Township Council meeting when I made the mistake of changing the channel in the middle of a baseball game to the vice presidential debates.

"Hey, who the hell is that?" came an angry voice from the sports desk in reference to Dick Cheney.

Could it be that a Penn State student is politically uninformed? Could it be that a fellow journalist doesn't even know who's up for vice president this year? You bet.

First, I thought that apathy in our age group sprung from the idea that the issues don't apply to students. But there are scores of important things in this election that have an impact on college aged voters.

All you freshmen — take a look at education policies. The next presidential term is going to going to affect the next seven semesters you spend in college. Increasing student grants and declaring tuition payments tax deductible can help those of you who are struggling to pay for school.

Tax policies are particularly important to graduating seniors. If you have plans to be an elementary school teacher, you're looking at middle class for the rest of your life. If you're graduating with a degree in chemical engineering where salaries are $77,000 and rising, you might want to consider tax cuts for a higher income bracket.

Married life and children aren't far off for many of us either. Policies alleviating the chronic overcrowding of the nation's schools in this election will start taking effect by the time your kids hit school.

There are plenty of other issues that apply to our age bracket, and for the most part, students are aware of the importance of casting a ballot. But there's a bigger problem: "I don't know enough about the current issues to go out and vote."

In the 1996 election, five out of six voters under age 30 reported that they didn't have enough information to vote with confidence — and they have no one to blame but themselves. The media devote countless television and radio hours to election issues, not to mention the fact that newspapers, which are free all over campus have been riddled with information for weeks.

The Internet is one of the most amazing resources available to us. You can visit a candidate's Web site and get concise information on his stance on an issue. And if you feel so inclined, you might even visit CNN.com and download the debates you missed while watching the playoffs.

So choose, learn and vote with confidence. It's your future. But it doesn't stop with one vote in November. Get involved and participate on the local level as well.

Every week I go to College Township and State College Borough Council meetings that are devoid of student participation. Somehow the collective idea, with both students and permanent residents, is that students are transients.

Look at Penn State football, look at the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. And look at all the students that live off campus. Students are very much a part of the community here, but somehow we act detached from the town.

Every election year, someone gets to cast his or her first vote ever. As important as that is, it shouldn't be justification to sit on our hands until November of 2004. If you can get involved with Washington, D.C., you can certainly get involved with the town you walk through every day. Student interests are only represented if we commit fully to the responsibilities of participation.

Don't think that State College is a four-year vacation. And don't think a presidential vote is just a piece of paper every four years. After all, you follow baseball all year — not just the World Series.