The 14th amendment grants adults 18 and older the right to vote. Many University students will exercise this right for the first time at the November election. At the same time, many young college-age adults will neglect to fulfill this responsibility-as proven in the 2000 presidential election when only 32 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds turned out to vote.

Given the accessibility of voter registration forms on campus and online, it is inexcusable for students to not vote for the next president.

The Student Government Association (SGA) has New York state voter registration forms in its office and the League of Women Voters has been registering voters every day in the Student Center atrium.

Even out-of-state students living on campus can register to vote for the state of New York (as long as they are not registered to vote in any other states). The deadline to register to vote for New York is in a little over a week.

If, however, out-of-state students prefer, absentee ballots can be obtained by calling their respective states’ Board of Elections.

Rockthevote.com outlines the deadlines for each state and the proper instructions for registering to vote either in-state or for an absentee ballot.

For the first time, students are offered the convenience of University vans picking them up and transporting them to the polling place on the day of the election.

Laziness is not a legitimate excuse for not voting, given the conveniences offered to students; nor, in fact, is the excuse that this election does not affect college students.

Given that presidential elections occur every four years, this semester’s freshmen will have graduated and be familiar with the “real world” by the next election. When students graduate from college they will have to deal with the woes of foreign policy, employment opportunities, taxes and not having the security of their parents’ insurance coverage.

As for the immediacy factor, the current speculation regarding the near-future reinstatement of the draft should have masses of college students flocking to the polls on Nov. 2. Considering there has not been a draft since 1972, most students may not be familiar with the fact that men and women, ages 18 to 26, are eligible for the draft and there will no longer be a “long deferment” for college students.

So it is important to keep in mind that, at some point in the four years following the November election, the president’s decisions will impact the future of every current college student. Once they delve into the notion of democracy, students will realize the ultimate decision is theirs.