Just as I think all voters should come to an informed and reasoned decision about whom to vote for, so do I also think a newspaper editorial staff should make the same decision. By not endorsing a candidate, I think you’re sending a terrible message to students at Iowa State about their right and duty to vote.

I also firmly disagree with your one-line dismissal of President Barack Obama as “inexperienced, naive and ineffective.” I don’t know why people think we could climb out of the huge pit that our country fell into shortly before Obama was elected in only four years. Our economy is making slow but steady progress, with the housing market looking up (plus all the spending people do on new houses or apartments), the jobless rate falling, personal income and spending both up slightly, and manufacturing up.

And Obama has probably already helped you, as a college student, personally. He reformed student loans, eliminating billions that used to go to banks that used to service those loans (Romney wants to put the banks back in as middlemen), and Obama reinvested those savings directly into increased aid for students. He also added a tax credit for tuition so your parents can save up to $10,000 over four years. (Believe me, that’s helpful to our family) His ARRA (Recovery Act) probably helped your own (public) high school keep its teachers, or helped your town or county to repair highways or bridges, without your being aware of it — which also probably kept your parents’ property taxes and other local fees from being raised. Your parents most likely saved $3,500 in taxes each year from the payroll tax cut Obama put in place to help put money in people’s pockets that they would spend, stimulating the economy, rather than put in the bank, and you probably didn’t notice it. You might not yet know how important it is to have health insurance, but once you graduate, if you can’t find a job with insurance, you’ll be glad you have your parents’ plan covering you until you’re 26. (Accidents happen, as do illnesses, and they’re all even more expensive without insurance.)

Studies have shown that policies that help the middle class rather than the wealthiest Americans actually help the overall economy more — policies that Bill Clinton put in place, for example, raising taxes on the wealthy but yet growing the economy so that the middle class thrived during his administration. But Romney and Ryan want to return us to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, calling them job creators, when they’re more likely “money accumulators and hoarders.” To pay for these tax cuts, they’ll be slashing services you will need and use (funds for research; for Pell Grants; for police officers, fire fighters, and teachers; for bridges and roads; for FEMA, etc. etc.).

Please believe a mother: Obama will be better for your future, especially if you’re middle class. If you’re wealthy or extremely anti-abortion, OK, I guess Romney’s your guy. (Young women especially should think very carefully before this election…)

This election presents a stark choice between two visions of America, as both candidates have said. They are both correct. Don’t sit on your hands. Educate yourself, using reputable newspapers (not those partisan TV or radio shows that just pretend to be presenting “objective” news), and then vote.