On Wednesday, at about the same time when you've checked your e-mail for the ump-teenth time or during that period of the day when you are wasting your life away chatting on AOL Instant Messenger, take a few seconds to be a contributing member of society.

Don't forget to vote in MSU's 2003 student referendum by logging onto www.studentelections.msu.edu.

It only will take a few seconds. We promise. You won't even have to tell MSUgurl or hotdude that you will "brb" because they won't notice you're gone.

And if the prospect of being a decent citizen isn't enough to ensure your vote, maybe your wallet will be. There could be up to $42.75 of your hard-earned cash at stake - that's a lot of beer.

But in all seriousness, it shouldn't take much to convince students that apathy is no longer an acceptable excuse.

Because of the ways in which Americans have exercised, or not exercised in that matter, their right to vote, leaders in the United States have poised the world for war. Yes, voting is that powerful.

While students will not be asked to elect leaders tomorrow, they will be asked to make financial decisions that have the potential to impact your education.

As cliché as it might be, it's true that if you don't vote you don't have the right to complain when things don't go your way. And we know how much you love to complain.

The bottom line is you should not wait for other people to do things that you should be doing yourself. We are all members of a village and we all have duties in which to contribute positively to our community.

It would be a sad day in Spartan country if people were to turn on WDBM (88.9-FM) and hear nothing but static only to realize they could have prevented such a travesty by taking a few moments out of one day of their lives to vote.

It seems that we could stand on a soap box outside Wells Hall 24 hours a day, seven days a week until we were blue in the face and apathetic Spartans wouldn't hear.

We are not willing to stay quiet until our fellow students start to take an active role in their community by exercising their civic duty - even if it seems to be the simplest of campuswide elections.

Unfortunately, if the U.S. road to war hasn't been enough to open your eyes on the importance of participating in the electoral process, we aren't sure what will do the trick.

Don't just sit by your computer screen and watch life unfold before your eyes, take part in it.

Start by voting Wednesday.