Dearest Readers,

Don’t turn this issue of [X]Press into a doorstop or an improvised paper plate just yet, because we think you will like what’s inside. And page twenty-six is printed on real hundred dollar bills! OK, so there are no Benjamins tacked into the magazine, but the content is the currency of our lives in the Bay Area. Broken parking meters, Associated Students meetings and the reconstruction of the library are compelling and important stories, but [X]Press addresses the issues that affect our lives far beyond the university campus. We gave the magazine hell of a makeover, and it is now broken into sections so that you can easily find what you need and skip over the stuff you can’t be bothered to read. I hope that the new [X]Press Magazine makes you think, laugh, cry or get so angry that you set it on fire, write me nasty letters and make threats on my life. At the very least, it will give you something constructive to do while suffering on MUNI or sitting on the can.

This month we look into the uproar over increased violence in the Mission District, walk you through a day in the life of Muslims celebrating Ramadan and hit the streets for election stories that you will never hear about on CNN. And unlike CNN, we actually do some reporting here and there. So you don’t get too depressed, there is also a more lighthearted side of [X]press magazine that helps you cure your hangovers, hit the mosh pit, and tear into Chris Daly for trying to be our “big brother” and telling us not to smoke.

Everything that we cover holds its weight, but the most important thing that should be on all of our minds is the upcoming election. San Franciscans love to bitch about the dire state of affairs more than anyone else in the world, especially when things are screwed up beyond repair by the evil Republicans. Every time I see a “No W” bumper sticker, hear somebody call Bush a moron or witness anti-war protesters storming City Hall, I have to wonder, “Did these people even vote?” Chances are, the answer is “No”.

The 2004 presidential election could have been the most pivotal and fiercely contested elections in decades and anti-Bush sentiment was at the flash point for liberal voters. But, between Bush supporters and haters, only sixty percent of Californians managed to get out and vote according to U.S. census data.

The youth vote in the Golden State was even more pathetic, with only forty-five percent of registered voters between eighteen and twenty-nine bothering to rock the vote. This tells me that at least half of the people out there with the “No W” stickers and calling for Bush’s impeachment made no effort to keep the clown out of office. It may not be statistically correct, but it is a safe bet. Californians may think that they are all high and mighty when it comes to participating in the political process, but we solidly had our asses handed to us by Minnesota, which had the highest voter turnout in the nation with seventy-nine percent of voters making their choice.

The bottom line is: if you don’t vote, you have no right to open your whiny mouth and complain about the results. Whether you want McCain to touch off a nuclear Holocaust with his hockey-mom sidekick, or see if Obama can really stop the downward spiral of our county, you have to vote for your voice to be heard. I will be holding a party on Election Day, and the price of admission is sporting the “I voted” sticker on your shirt, and it is your responsibility to do the same. You don’t have to hold a party, but any responsible American needs to do all they can to get their friends to vote. It is not an option, it is your duty as a citizen of the United States to choose who runs your country. You don’t have to vote or die, but you do have to vote or shut the hell up.