In the aftermath of a monumental election, there seems to be a still dark cloud looming over the Penn State campus.

It is as if the majority of our homes are in a state of political depression. We liberals seem to not yet have the realization that the election is over and what we feared most occurred, President George W. Bush has four more years as the commander in chief of our beloved nation. Unfortunately, the tone of the majority on our campus is that seemingly our nation is currently not so beloved.

What once seemed unimaginable for 50 million Americans has in fact come true.

But do we as freethinkers and philosophers of the future dwell on the fact we cannot partake in the change we as liberal people know is best? Do we lie in our depression and give up hope that the rights we so adamantly campaigned for lie on the backburner until 2008? And what then? What if another closed-minded, right revoking Republican man gains office?

Do we as citizens of the United States give up? I have heard everything from moving to Canada to another civil war as possible solutions.

That is not the way; nothing great has ever been achieved by turning away from one's metaphorical enemy. No evil has ever been conquered by waving a white flag. If we want change we must work for it. As Howard Dean said when he visited Eisenhower Auditorium, "The least you can do is vote."

We must do more.

We must educate those that claim to not have an interest in politics, they are the uninformed voters. Uninformed voters may not realize what is at stake and vote for which they view as "safe." These uninformed voters are still young and are at an age where they may be willing to listen and understand what we have to say.

But that is not all -- there are things that can be done in the present. Yes, the commander in chief, the Senate, and the House of Representatives have the power, but they cannot ignore the people.

Their job is to represent the people. If you as an individual are not happy with what is going on, with what decisions are being made, do not forgo what you believe, because you are merely one person, more than likely there are many that share your distrust for what is happening.

Make your voice heard. If you do nothing, you can expect nothing to happen.

My greatest fear is that young America will crawl back into the shadows and only emerge once again in 2008, only to make more uneducated decisions that affect us in ways that we don't know about.

We as young America have the ammunition for change; we must now find our weapon. Perhaps that does not include a man with ultimate power, but a council that votes upon all major decisions. If the president's cabinet had voted upon invading Iraq, would the outcome and order of events been different?

If our elected representatives were men and women capable of making decisions without their personal beliefs interfering would we then be in threat of our rights that had been granted to us decades ago?

Great men and women once died fighting for what they believe. Plato devoted and ultimately gave his life for his convictions, and even when he had the option of escaping and becoming a refuge of Rome, he expressed that because he chose to live within Rome's walls, that was an agreement to live by Rome's laws.

The only fighting I see before us are those in service in Iraq, but is that what those men and women believe?

Do they feel that the Iraqi people should be free so passionately that they are willing to give their lives for their freedom?

I ask my fellow liberals and free spirits to not give up on what we feel is true, to not give up on what we voted for, to not give up on the United States of America.

Get out and make a difference, do not leave it up to those in office.

We are the citizens of America -- at one point what we had to say had meaning -- we still comprise this nation and therefore we have rights that we are entitled.

Change is in our grasp but we must fight for it.