You’re going to read something different today. I’m not going to complain and criticize in this column. I’m definitely not going to write about my love of quesadillas or sexual text-messaging. After all, this is an editorial column.

Instead, I want to point out a positive. I want to laud something on the campus that deserves our attention and gratitude. I want to say thank you to all the hard-working and dedicated members of the Student Government Association who traveled down to Annapolis almost two weeks ago today and rallied to solidify state funding for higher education. You and all those enthusiastic Terps who joined you in your efforts lobbying for state higher education funding did a real service for our university.

As I’ve said before, a fiscal storm is brewing in Annapolis because of this budget crisis. Budget cuts slashing services and facilities are a real possibility. In light of the recent damage to the physics building and understaffing of mental health services, budget cuts could be disastrous. Thank you for standing up for myself, my roommates, my classmates, my teammates and the thousands of others here in College Park. The fight is not over, but you certainly helped win round one.

So let’s not give up. This was only a special session. We still have 90 days between January and April during which all kinds of nasty legislation could pop up. We need to hold on to the ears of legislators, and maintain the momentum you have built so far. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the current method of banding university students into a single lobby is going to keep working.

Look at it this way: Legislators want to get reelected. Every single delegate and senator acts in his or her own best reelection interests. If the legislator’s constituents want something, the legislator usually goes along with it. If non-constituents want something, then the legislator usually does not have the time or energy to care. There is simply too much going on for a single legislator to please everyone. Plus, non-constituents can’t determine reelection. The first rule in politics is to always stick with your base, and it is damn near impossible to worry about anyone else.

Now think about our situation. We exist in a single election district. With so many of us registered in College Park to vote, we are the constituents of one state senator and three delegates. They must worry about us. The other 46 senators and 138 delegates? If they have the time. Above all else, at any given time only half of us are true constituents. Many juniors and seniors won’t be around for the next election cycle. Sen. Jim Rosapepe need only worry about current sophomores and freshmen for his reelection campaign in 2010.

So how does half of a voter population in a single electoral district maintain constant policy pressure on all the lawmakers in Annapolis?

The answer is in public high schools. We need to tap seniors in public high schools to contact their district legislators about the issues important to us. Think about this: Many seniors in the state will apply to the university because of the in-state tuition advantage. Many will end up attending one of the state’s public schools. So state higher education issues are germane to them. And finally, these seniors, most of whom live at home, can more easily involve their parents in the political discourse. This is especially true when the issue is tuition. Parents are permanent constituents who act as a constant electoral force. Having them act in our favor would be a huge advantage to our cause.

Engaging this untapped electoral force wouldn’t even be that hard. It could be as easy as dropping by the 12th grade civics class at your local high school during winter break, or sending a letter along with an SGA resolution to every high school civics and government teacher in the state. Either way, it is a pretty low-cost, low-risk venture that could have a huge payoff in the near future. And let’s not kid ourselves, the near future is where we’re going to need the most help.

Daniel Kobrin is a senior government and politics major. He can be reached at dkobrin@umd.edu.