Daryl Altman and Rob Shepard

Young people have always wanted respect and acknowledgment. You haven't earned it.

Historically, young people have the worst voter turnout in the nation. In 2000, only half of you registered and only a third of you who did register bothered to vote. According to U.S. Census data, you represent about 13 percent of potential voters, yet you seem satisfied accepting only 4.5 percent of the voting clout.

Perhaps an appeal to self-interest will impress upon you the importance of voting. At this very moment there are twin bills in Congress, S. 89 and H.R. 163, which if passed, will reinstitute the draft. The bills — currently in committee — would require mandatory two-year service "in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security," of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 26. There will be no college deferments.

If the Unite States continues its current program, you will be spending junior year abroad catching bullets in Baghdad.

You do have a say in this. All you need to do is register, vote and get your friends and family to vote.

Altman is a School Health Doctor in New York City and Shepard is a musician who works in local government.

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