Let's bring it back home

As the Indiana Daily Student reported Friday, students are reviving a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on campus. The group is aptly going to be named the IU Civil Liberties Union. The original group was abandoned six years ago. To the students with the gumption to re-start the group, we say congratulations, and good job. We're looking forward to having a group that will add to IU's already lively political scene. A campus group to make students' voices heard can only be a good thing. Our secondary props go out for their emphasis on the bipartisanship of the group and its politically inclusive attitude. \nBut our congratulations and pat on the back come with a catch (it's the IDS Editorial Board, of course there's a catch). We'd like to see this up-and-coming group keep its issues local. Don't just be a mouthpiece for the national organization. The ACLU is a highly controversial group. That isn't a bad thing. But the IUCLU should keep its focus on the IU and Bloomington community. By addressing local issues -- or national issues on a local level -- the IUCLU will accomplish what the ACLU sometimes doesn't manage to do: truly making change. The students' goals are a little vague, including "awareness raising." Awareness is never a bad thing, but bringing it back home takes the knowledge from the head to the heart. If the IUCLU is just a means of propagating headline-making rhetoric, it will surely fail in its goals. But if it works to achieve the true objective of the national group -- defending citizens' rights -- on a local level, it will be a welcome and necessary addition to campus political life. On a campus that is increasingly partisan, the IUCLU may be exactly what we need. \nOftentimes, we see our political life at IU in terms of the College Democrats and College Republicans. While these groups do facilitate discussion and promote political responsibility, sometimes the partisanship causes students to lose sight of the goal: having a functional democracy in which all citizens enjoy full exercise of their rights. Mediating this type of middle ground is a big shoe for the IUCLU to fill, but we have a lot of faith in college students. In the wake of a heated election season, we're ready to get back to honest, issue-centered political discussion.\nOn the larger scale, we'd also love to see these campus groups forming at colleges all over the country -- at colleges liberal and conservative alike.\nEven though the group isn't fully formed and is still working on making its objectives clear, it already has the most important quality in forming a good student-advocacy group: the desire for change.