Go ahead. Riot. Riot for jobs of 850,000 federal workers, whose positions are scheduled to be “privatized” (otherwise known as “downsized”) through the Bush administration’s revision of Circular A-76, an archaic federal mandate drafted in 1955. Riot with workers in San Salvador, France and South Africa who face uncertain futures as their governments push for the privatization of public utilities, health care and construction. Riot against “ending welfare as we know it.”

Riot against budget cuts in education, public housing, heating and food assistance, Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. Riot for public support of the arts.

Riot for free speech in Haiti and for the deaths of Radio Haiti journalist Jean Dominique and security guard Jean Claude Louissant. Riot for answers to the murder of Radio Echo news director Brignol Lindor and for the accountability of governments who silence opposing voices. Riot against Attorney General John Ashcroft’s statement that in a national security crisis, “Americans need to watch what they say and do.”

Riot against gender-based sexual violence committed against internment camp refugees in Nepal, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Riot for all expatriated people’s right of return, without regard to race, religion or language. Riot against state-sponsored torture and kidnapping. Riot for the fair and humane treatment of all prisoners, political or not. Heck, riot for Mumia Abu-Jamal if you want to.

Riot against the expansion of imperialism. Riot against the U.N. Security Council’s recent decision to hold “peacekeeping forces” immune from International Criminal Court prosecution, giving the United States free reign to ignore any last lip service to a commitment to human rights while battling the “Axis of Evil.” Riot for the realization that a “war on terror” can be fought better by accountants than by combat pilots.

Riot against grossly irresponsible local news media, who placate you 20 minutes of football babble, the traffic and weather reports and five minutes of international coverage. Riot to say, “we don’t need another human interest story about siblings who go to rival Big Ten universities — we need real news.” Riot against the “Commit to be Fit” campaign; it’s annoying.

Riot against tuition hikes. Riot against a university student health plan that will not pay for your broken collarbone if it is determined to be an “injury sustained during participation in a riot.” Riot for same-sex partner faculty and student family benefits. Riot against a curriculum whose commitment to social justice includes mentioning Klan rallies and the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the same breath. Riot because the best minds of our generation are being consumed by madness.

Riot against blatant displays of class privilege. Riot against campus-area gentrification and for affordable inner-city housing for working families. Riot against the physical destruction of your neighborhoods. Riot against a Wild Turkey-fueled, white bread, ‘Crombie-zombie brand of urban terrorism that poses a more immediate threat to all students’ safety than any form of Islamo-fascism. Riot against the idiots who burned up your Nissan Sentra.

Riot to prove there’s more to life than how much 151 you can drink at a party, or who you’ll hook up with that night. Riot to prove that when you’re gone, you’ll have made a mark on the university that had nothing to do with public urination. Riot against the stereotype that college students are devoid of any sense of responsibility to the communities they inhabit. Riot against ravaging consumerism. Riot against apathy. Riot against nihilism.

Go ahead. Riot.

Bryan Dale Miller is a junior in social work and can be reached for comment at [email protected].