COLUMN LEFT

Over the past year, people of our generation have come to realize that what goes on in Washington can have a very real impact on their lives and our future. For this awareness, we Democrats have Newt Gingrich to thank.

Never has it been more imperative for young people to get involved in the political process. Nothing less than our generation's future hangs in the balance. We have two choices. We can sit idly by, watching politics as a spectator sport, as our collective future is sacrificed. Or we can get involved and send Newt Gingrich and his cronies a message: We are a generation. We have talent, energy and solidarity. If you try to mortgage our future, we will not remain silent. We will fight back.

I do not have to continue for long to convince you that the Republicans' extremist agenda is tragic news for young people. The original Republican plan to balance the budget included $18 billion in cuts from student aid. Democrats agree that we must balance the budget, and it is fair to expect a wide range of people to share the burden. But cutting student aid so drastically at a time when skyrocketing tuition costs make it increasingly impossible for families to pay for their children's education is the cruelest way to make ends meet. Newt Gingrich calls what he is trying to create an "opportunity society." Yet he is robbing millions of young people of the opportunity to go to college.

Of particular interest to students, under the latest budget proposal:

* President Clinton's National Service program would be eliminated, and with it would disappear the chance of four million young people to serve their country while helping fund their education.

* Pell Grants would be cut back by a rate of one million students each year.

* Federal student loans would be cut by $5 billion over seven years (that the cuts were reduced from $18 billion is a testament to the work students have already done in organizing themselves).

* The direct lending program would be drastically rolled back. Today, students can apply for a loan directly from the federal government simply by filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Students under the direct loan programs do not need to go through banks or other intermediaries. It is relatively easy to know the status of a loan, repayment is more flexible and bureaucracy is fairly unintrusive. As one university president said, "It is rare that the federal government creates a program that both saves money and improves services to its constituents. Direct lending is such a program." Then why would Republicans want to roll it back? For no other reason than that they are beholden to the greedy interests of banks and guaranty agencies.

Sooner or later, but sometime over the next year, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole and the rest of the Republicans are going to realize they picked the wrong generation to sacrifice to the corporate special interests that fund their campaigns.

We have already begun to come together. Students who once considered themselves apolitical have in-volved themselves in the political fray. Several students from the University of Massachusetts organized a student aid rally at Government Center in November, and we College Democrats were there to give our support.

I will never forget the feeling of energy and generational solidarity that day as we marched through downtown Boston. Students represented schools as diverse as Harvard, the University of Massachusetts, Fitchburg State, Roxbury Community College and Wellesley. And even more significantly, the coalition of so many student groups with a single purpose told me that from our splintered society, people were hearing a unified cry: the voice of our generation.

People on the street eminently dressed in business suits and carrying briefcases seemed taken aback by the gathering. In their eyes, the 1980s "me decade" was supposed to have thoroughly put to death the days of student activism. What has happened instead is that Newt Gingrich has given student activism a surprisingly sudden resurrection. Thanks, Newt.

We are a generation. Let's put aside thoughts of our own transcripts and resumes for at least a little while. In 1996, we have a chance to be a part of something bigger, starting with the presidential race.

I believe in Bill Clinton. I believe he is a truly great president, easily the best we've had in our lifetime. As a man who will likely become the first president of the 21st century, Bill Clinton cares about the future--and that means us. From establishing the Americorps service program, to protecting young children from nicotine addiction, to focusing on the problem of teen pregancy (in policies, not only in speeches), to stopping Republican attempts to gut regulations that will protect our environment for the future--Bill Clinton has demonstrated a commitment to our generation that reaches far beyond appearing on MTV. He will not let student aid be trampled as long as he is in the White House.

For the next three weekends, College Democrats and the Clinton-Gore '96 campaign will be running buses to New Hampshire for college students in the Boston area, free of charge. The New Hampshire primary is a ritual in American life which happens only once every four years.

Getting away from academia, taking a road trip, going door-to-door, interacting with actual Americans -- campaigning in New Hampshire is an experience that is exhilarating and even, if you are like me, spiritually rewarding.

This is our chance, for most of us our only chance, to experience it. I invite all of you who are on student aid or who care about the future of our generation to join us in showing our support for a president who supports us. I can promise that you will learn more than you would by sitting in a Gov lecture.

Most importantly, it is our responsibility to ourselves and to each other that we give our time, our energy and our labor for something bigger and better than our classes and our careers. This year affords us that opportunity. I am confident that young people will continue to be politically aware. But for me, it is not enough only to be aware of what the politicians in Washington are doing with my future and the future of my country. I want to do something about it. I hope that you will join us College Democrats in helping to shape our future and renew American democracy the way we want it.

Our parents made their mark on history three decades ago. It's our turn now.

Seth D. Hanlon '98 is president of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats.