We want our MTV — a popular war cry heard throughout central Iowa during the month of December sparked a flame of political activism not often found on the streets of downtown Des Moines. Outraged MTV viewers publicly denounced TCI cable company after a network decision to pull the plug on two music channels, MTV and VH-1.

More than 200 music fans attended an outdoor protest and 5,000 signatures were collected and given to Des Moines Mayor Arthur Davis in retaliation to the corporate cutback.

Iowa State’s very own first lady, Patti Jischke, wife of ISU President Martin Jischke, even got in on the act. Jischke faxed a letter to the Des Moines Register expressing her disappointment that TCI dropped MTV.

Though many have threatened to cancel their cable subscriptions and others have vowed not to give up until they get their MTV, one important part of these events has gone unmentioned.

Students are once again protesting and rallying around a cause.

Whether you agree or disagree with the TCI network decision is not of importance. Subscribers to the cable company are the only people who have the potential power and more importantly, the money, to change the networks decision.

Political activism has once again been ignited in the minds of students. When was the last time young people lined the streets of Des Moines with hand-painted signs and chests covered with paint to scream their disgust at so-called corporate greed?

Granted MTV is not the Vietnam War or the fight for civil rights, but darn it, there’s a protest going on and students are behind it.

The baby-boomer generation may scoff at this music video protest when compared to their flag-burning, tear-gas-dodging, government-bashing glory days. But let’s face it, political activism has to start somewhere and maybe the TCI protest of ’96 will one day be remembered as the birth of a new era of student protests.

OK, then again maybe not.

But we say power to the protesters and long live the fight for MTV.