Action must be taken

After months of propaganda and publicity, the citizens of Tallahassee were called on Tuesday to vote on the building of a coal plant in the area. With local radio talk show host and activists throughout the Big Bend community, it seemed that the people would rally around the issue.

However, it seems that few FAMU students were moved enough by the topic to find the time to cast their vote. This situation should warrant students to ask themselves actually what they are moved by

Perhaps the Coal Plant Vote is not the type of lightening rod issue that will energize the voting spirits of local college students, but it may be fair to assume that few issues would spark their interest.

The City of Tallahassee has sent out absentee ballots to residents that are due by November 17th. 103,708 total ballots were distributed throughout the city to those who requested them. As of Tuesday, the city had only received 17,156 ballots back.

Those in opposition of the coal plant have argued that it will lead to environmental and financial problems for Tallahassee. These are problems that should certainly concern potential voters, but it seems that they don’t.

In this time of national and global crisis, we each must ask ourselves actually what we are willing to stand up and speak out against. The building of a coal plant may not insight such emotions, but in the coming months and years there will surely be things that should.

Now is not the time for young people to become complacent with our local, national or global leaders or their policies. Knowing the unimpressive track record of many of our leaders, we must commit ourselves to searching for inequality and injustice. Our resolve may be test in the near future and a stand must taken against any and all things that don’t represent the will of the people. Such action may soon be more vital than we have ever known.