From the Executive Editor’s Desk:
Price of politics is going to cost future generation


While browsing on Facebook, I stumbled across an old anti-News Feed group created by students from another institution. The group, which was open to anyone on Facebook, had some interesting comments on the message wall. But there was one that grabbed my attention the most. In fact, as I read it, I began to feel upset and insulted. However, once I finished reading the comment, I realized that the man was totally right: “This is the first revolt of our generation,” he said. He was referring to the nationwide campaign of college students against Facebook’s News Feed, which took place in the beginning of the fall semester.

Yes, that’s the same millennial generation that we praise for its technological superiority over our elder generations, specifically the baby boomers. However, as we all know, many of the finest minds came from that same baby boomer generation, a generation that wasn’t afraid to stand up for what it believed in, whether it was right or wrong.

Today, our generation faces many obstacles such as the declining environment, but one that is directly affecting Americans right now is the War in Iraq. As all of us should know, the President’s war strategy is to send 21,000 more troops to the war zone in Iraq. Apparently, President Bush believes this is the best solution to salving the severe wounds created in Iraq. He believes this even though numerous governmental officials and members of the media have acknowledged the failures of the war, the inaccurate statements by the administration and the rising death toll.

But even though Bush’s plan seems to be the path to additional destruction, with which many of his Republican colleagues even agree — and more of a mess that the next President-elect will have to clean up — the Democrats seem to be just all talk right now. It’s all but certain that the new Democratic-controlled Congress will continually turn down Bush’s war strategies, but it is still searching for a best-case scenario that will finally bring our country together during one of the highest periods of partisanship.

The divide between party lines was evident when Bush made last week’s historical State of the Union address in front of a Congress full of many new faces and the first-ever female Speaker of the House. The tension in the room was palpable, and could almost be felt through the television.

There has to be a viable solution to the War in Iraq. But until then, our brave soldiers and their family members and friends will be feeling the pain. While people pray everyday for the loved ones who are fighting for our country, remember that we are the ones who have the ability to voice our opinions and make a difference.

At Rutgers this past Sunday morning, about two-dozen bus loads of community members, students and governmental officials made their way to the anti-war protests down in Washington. Hopefully, this shows that the war is serving as a wake-up call for our generation … whether your political allegiance belongs to the Republicans, the Democrats or the Libertarians.

So, as other nations continue to further their statuses as superpowers, the “millennial generation” has to wake up now. In an unsystematic poll conducted by The Rider News, 54 percent of the 215 students polled said they strongly disagreed with the new war strategy. If that’s so, then please do something about it (even if only it means to vote in November) because America’s future is not looking too bright.

— Mike Caputo