The meek will not inherit the earth. In Washington, the meek will inherit the burden of paying for the state’s budget deficit. College students are inheriting this burden because our legislators and our governor have passed us off as meek.

After much thought, our state politicians must have realized it is impossible to create a balanced budget without raising taxes. The tax raise has been heaped onto the people they think are the least involved, the least informed, the meek: College students.

Make no mistake about it, we are going to have a tax raise. It has been dressed up, called a surcharge, a tuition increase or a spending cut. The bottom line is this: We are going to pay more money to the state for fewer services. That is indeed a tax raise for all of us.

Yet we remain silent. Sure a few students wrote letters to the editor. A hundred students or so turned out for a rally. Only 100 students out of 25,000; No wonder they think they can get away with this. This scenario isn’t out of a movie, there is no knight in shining armor that is going to save us. Of course the state legislature isn’t standing up for us; We don’t even care enough to stand up for ourselves.

I have yet to hear someone say they actually approve of these budget proposals. Even the politicians are having trouble spinning this one into a win. Gregoire described her budget in December saying, “I hate it ... I’ve told legislators, ‘You are going to hate my budget. There’s something in there for everybody not to like.’” Gregoire’s prediction has been too true. Not only does everyone hate the new budget, but they hate nearly everything in it. Students should hate it the most, as the cuts could lead to the elimination of entire programs. These programs existed for a reason and are not expendable despite what the legislature and governor’s office might believe.

Universities used to be the center of political activism. Students fought segregation during the sixties and spearheaded the anti-war movement in the seventies. The renewed surge of political interest during the 2008 campaign had many pundits impressed with the level of civic involvement among today’s youth. Yet now, when our futures are at stake, students are silent.

It’s easy to write a letter to make your voice heard. Ten different state legislators have received an annoying, whiny email from me and I have gotten responses from members of both parties. My letters no doubt made little difference, but 25,000 letters sure as hell might.

Civic duty isn’t something that can wait for the next election. If so, we will see tuition raise 10 percent a year with an additional surcharge thrown on top and a budget decrease of 20 percent.

To find your local legislator, visit apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx. To contact Gregoire, visit www.governor.wa.gov/contact/default.asp.