College students are often outspoken activists who – through rallies and protests – are able to catalyze change across the country.

In May, a group of students at Princeton University gained attention through a filibuster-a-thon.

They held their own marathon filibuster in response to Sen. Bill Frist’s threat to initiate the nuclear option which would eliminate the ability for Democrats on the Hill to potentially block one of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominees.

This protest spawned several similar events on campuses across the country.

And just as the social injustices of the world will never cease, student activists will continue to speak up.

Recently students at the University of Michigan have lobbied to cut their campus-wide contract with Coca-Cola, which they successfully accomplished.

Coke is under fire for refusing to submit to third-party investigations of alleged human rights violations in Asia and South America.

Nineteen other schools have also decided to cut their Coke contract as a result of the allegations – one voice has quickly become many.

BGSU has a contract with Pepsi.

School contracts make a very small portion of Coke’s profits , and although Coke’s bottom line won’t be affected by the boycott, its image will potentially suffer.

How would students at Bowling Green react to a similar scenario?

Are we as socially conscious other students?

Over the years, students have surfaced when relevant issues have arisen.

Last year, students attended city council meetings in record numbers in response to the three-person occupancy rule.

The city threatened to immediately evict students who were in violation of the ordinance.

The students were granted a victory though – if only temporarily – when the city voted to hold off on enforcing the ordinance until the semester ended and students could find new living arrangements.

Apparently we are connected to the issues immediately important to us such as living arrangements, but it seems when it comes to issues of national relevance Bowling Green students show up in smaller numbers.

We should take a cue from students at the University of Michigan and realize that one voice – although sometimes slowly – can become many voices and foster social change.