Dining hall conversations often revolve around the Draw or meal plan changes. Occasionally, national issues come up, though a bit less often since November. But have you heard anyone talking about social security lately? Let’s face it, retirement is a long ways off, and it’s hard to think about life after work before your career has even begun.

But possible changes to social security have hit the national stage with a turbulent splash, and whatever your ideological opinion, you should pay attention. We’re not going to come out in favor or against any one of the many proposals circulating through the national debate right now, but we think that students should look at social security with at least as much interest as other voters. The plans are pitched at current baby-boomers, supported by investment banking firms, and the votes of current retirees will make or break any change. But even though President George W. Bush talked about how parents should support changes for the sake of their children who are under 30, most politicians are counting our generation out of the debate.

We shouldn’t be counted out, because any changes will impact us the most. We will have to contribute a payroll tax of 12.4 percent over our lifetimes, and that rate may increase. Either benefits or taxes will have to change around 2042, before any of us retire, when some estimates say the social security system is likely to not have enough money to cover all its obligations. Finally, over working lifetimes, the eventual benefits stand to be much less than we put in. According to one economist at the Hoover Institution, students would have to live until they are 110 to get as much out of the social security system as they contribute. Although social security is more of an insurance program than an investment scheme, 110 years is a long time to wait.

We do think certain approaches to the social security debate are unproductive. Bush is touting the crisis in social security, which is no more imminent than it was a decade ago, as a reason to pitch privatization, which won’t deal with the financial woes of the program. In fact, privatization programs or personal accounts would increase the general deficit with the need to fund the structural changes. Privatization, regardless of its benefits for individuals, will not solve the problem of Social Security running out of money. It should also not be used as a first step towards gutting overall benefits from the program.

Still, the discussion is probably good. Students should enter the fray. Maybe investing more of your money in the stock market makes more sense for you than it does your parents. Maybe taxes should increase now rather than in twenty years when you would bear the brunt of them. Perhaps you think social security should expand or contract. The debate is happening, and our voices are totally silent. Do you care?