Raise your voice

It didn’t take long for outcry from Facebook users to bring about
change to the system.

Too bad students don’t act like that with issues that actually
matter.

On Tuesday, the social networking Web site, popular among college
students and recently spreading to high schoolers as well, introduced a
new feature called “News Feed.”

Users touted the changes as “an invasion of privacy.”

E-mails of protest were written. Boycotts were planned.

The protest among users was so widespread and so overwhelming that,
by Friday, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter of apology
to users about the News Feed. He altered the feed, so the streamlining
function can be under direct control of users.

It’s an example of the changes students are able to affect when an
issue is important to them. It also throws into sharp contrast just how
little most students act on larger issues.

Voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds consistently has been lower
than any other age group since the passage of the 28th Amendment in
1971 and has declined from 42 percent in 1972 to just 28 percent in
2000, a National Association of Secretaries of State study found.

Much of the widespread criticism and controversy over recent
warrantless wiretapping called it “an invasion of privacy.” The issue
involved government, law and prosecution — and was largely ignored by
most students.

But when Facebook tracks public information and puts it all on the
same page for users to access, it’s a federal case.

What’s the difference?

A few possibilities jump out: One is that, while warrantless
wiretapping is frowned upon by most students, it doesn’t directly
affect them, so it isn’t something worth their effort.

Issues that have major impact on students on the national level do
exist — federal financial aid, for example — and enough students
together with enough protest are able to make a difference. Experiences
with trivial matters, like Facebook, should at least make that clear.

It’s time for this group to step up to a level where it can make
changes to things that matter.

Students can voice their election-year views at Tuesday’s Speak Up,
Speak Out forum.

Also, the Board of Trustees will meet Thursday to discuss what will
happen to those seniors not afforded a fifth year of guaranteed tuition
under the CMU Promise.

Who knows. If enough students show up, maybe George Ross, vice
president of Financial and Administrative Services, will write his own
letter of apology.