Burning local issues and a close race give Princetonians a reason to vote in New Jersey

So you're back on campus and you've noticed they made a few changes while you were away: Your phone number has been changed, you have no idea where to have your mail sent — and you couldn't get into your mailbox even if you did — and the U-Store looks like the lovechild of Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble. And now they're proposing a Borough-wide alcohol ordinance that would allow police to cite underage drinkers on private property — including at the 'Street.'

But unlike most things here at Princeton, students may actually be able to do something about that one.

What more than 300 of your fellow students have already realized this year is that registering to vote here in Princeton is much easier than you may think, and voting here makes your vote count more than anywhere else in the country.

First off, by voting here with hundreds of others, you can actually hold the Borough Council responsible for ridiculous invasions of privacy like the one it's currently proposing.

The problem is, the Council can make such proposals without much worry because Princeton students don't vote in Princeton. At least not yet. If we vote, if a lot of us vote, they'll listen.

But the other thing people don't realize is that they are sitting in the most hotly contested Congressional district in the country. Sure, you could vote absentee someplace else. But are you really going to remember to send in that ballot? Even if you do, would you rather vote for an incumbent who always gets 60 percent of the vote? Wouldn't it be better to be one of 1,000 or so people who decide this election and let Democratic Congressman Rush Holt keep his 12th-District seat here?

All 435 seats in the House are up for election, but only about 20 have a chance of changing parties. Unless you're registered in one of the other 19 districts, your vote will make the biggest difference right here. No vote is ever a waste, but in some places, every voter is worth his or her weight in gold. In this district, it's closer to platinum.

Why does it matter if you vote at all? Because, from the dreaded alcohol ordinance to the White House and the Supreme Court, there is a whole lot on the line. Not only are we in a unique district, we're here at a time unparalleled in the last 40 years. Everything is up for grabs — both houses of Congress, the White House and, most significantly, the Supreme Court.

The next president will appoint three or four new justices, people who will sit on the Court for years, casting votes on the right to privacy, a woman's right to choose and all sorts of other civil liberties. Consider it: Four more justices just like Clarence Thomas making decisions affecting your life. Doesn't seem so appealing, does it?

So here we are, in a Gothic fortress in the middle of idyllic Princeton, suddenly endowed with all of this power. The question is: What do we do with it?

To put it simply, Rush Holt is a good guy. If you don't like politicians, here you go: This guy is a physicist, about as far away from a standard politician as you can get. And he's not just any physicist — he's our physicist, straight out of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. As a result, he's always looking out for Princeton and higher education in general.

In fact, he sits on the education committee in the House, his first choice in terms of congressional assignments. As a scientist, he knows how important it is to protect the environment, and his record shows it. He's pro-choice, and he can actually brag about his F-rating from the Gun Owners of America.

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So go ahead and register to vote here in Princeton — find a person with an orange sticker or a table, go by the Registrar's Office or visit www.rockthevote.org. Democrat or Republican, you can make an actual difference here. And if you can't stand politics, at the very least you can send a message to the Borough about the alcohol ordinance. Jason Biros, a politics major from Bethesda, Md., and Courtney Weiner, a history major from Bethesda, Md., are co-presidents of the College Democrats. They can be reached at jabiros@princeton.edu and clweiner@princeton.edu, respectively.