To protest or not to protest? This great country was founded some 227 years ago. It was born of a problem that stemmed from the inability to redress wrongs. The inability to be heard.

It is because of this that the colonists resorted to their last option to protest with the Boston Tea Party and start on the path that would enable them to create a system that could redress their wrongs.

Today, just as in the past, people find the government acting without their consent. To combat this, they have formed organizations and vigils to protest against the wrongful actions. They use the media to focus the country’s attention on their cause. However, while meaning well, the protesters end up showing that they don’t even believe in our democratic system enough to go through proper channels to redress the wrongs.

Ten voters have more sway than 100 protesters. The election is not the end either. The representatives are constantly open to outside opinions. They do the best they can to know what their constituency wants, but even a college professor can’t know what all of his/her students want.

If you want to get your point across it only costs 37 cents. Send a brief, formal or otherwise respectful letter to your representatives. For addresses go to: http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.php and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

Diedrich Maas

Sophomore

Anthropology