We all want to change something about ourselves and our lives. God knows I do. Whether it is the fact that I sat slack-jawed and motionless watching some godforsaken line dancing program yesterday on TNN while I was supposed to be getting ready for class, the fact that I snore or the fact that I never know what these 800 words that I am allotted every two weeks will turn out to be until mere moments before they’re due, I am a person in need of improvement.

And aren’t we all in need of some sort of a drastic shake-up? Isn’t this why I can’t escape that “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus” weirdo in his epic bid to wrench the “King of All Media” title from Howard Stern? (Forget Microsoft. I want to see an antitrust lawsuit to stop John Grey and his unctuous ways.)

Isn’t this why everyone’s a victim? That someone can get out of any sort of trouble by telling everyone about how scarred they were as a child when they were told where babies came from?

Isn’t this why we’re all addicted to something? Whether it be Jerry Springer or croutons at food service or Internet porn, we will eventually find something in our lives that takes a hold on us, and we can’t let go — and it’s hurting us for life, according to those in the know.

Some things we need or want to change in our lives are completely beyond our control, such as my undying love for procrastination or putting alcohol back into Veishea. Some changes can only be attained through a lot of pain and sacrifice.

But an opportunity for Iowans to make a drastic change in their lives is coming up next Tuesday. For all of you out there who fear pain and risk, you’ll come out of this relatively unscathed. The rewards won’t be instant, but they will be apparent soon enough.

You’ve guessed it. This is the umpteenth Daily column urging you to get out there and vote on Nov. 3. I’m sure the general readership is sick of this, but if we keep on telling you to exercise your right to vote, it’s important. It’s necessary. We aren’t doing this for our health, but if you don’t go out and vote, the results may make you nauseous.

As the two candidates duking it out for the statehouse and the media surrounding them have told us time and time again, Iowa is at a crossroads. An impasse. Sometimes it seems like the state is the definition of purgatory, depending on the way you look at it.

You know the maladies that Iowa suffers from. The most pressing is the fact that the state’s graduates have an invisible “Midwestern Metro Area or Bust sign” seemingly supplied with their cap and gown.

People from Iowa’s rural areas who stay in the state then overwhelmingly choose to settle in a place like Des Moines or Davenport, thus making a rural Iowa city the equivalent of a nursing home.

In Monday’s Des Moines Register, there was a graph published documenting the “brain drain” phenomenon in the state by measuring each county’s median age. Within this map of Iowa, you could practically see the exodus in effect. Story County (home to ISU) boasted the youngest residents, at 25.2 years of age, whereas Wayne County (home of Corydon, pop. 1, 675) has the oldest residents in the state, at 42.3 years of age. At this rate, the only viable Iowa industries in the next millennium will be nursing homes, health care professionals and funeral parlors. Do you want to come from a state like that?

Also, outsiders don’t have the highest opinion of Iowa or its residents as a whole, and because of this, they don’t want to spend any time in the state so they can realize that Iowa isn’t that horrible. Being from a small town in Wisconsin, I got many strange looks when I told people in my hometown what college I chose to matriculate to after high school. When I came back home for vacations, I would be asked how my corn crop was doing and if I had married my cousin yet.

While this may appear to be only simple ribbing of an easy target, it’s a sign of something a little bigger. Outsiders have no respect for Iowa. Thus, they don’t want to move there. They don’t want to bring their money-making industries here. They’re content to just let Iowa flounder and flail into mediocrity. Do you want to see this happen to your home?

What happens next Tuesday determines Iowa’s fate. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, since you’ve got a right to your own opinion. Everyone has their optimal vision for Iowa. In the long run, the choice is yours. Use it wisely.

Tori Rosin is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Portage, Wis.