Often I write columns about world issues, politics or something else that you might hear about on CNN.

While these issues are important, they are very big. What I mean by this is that unless you are a U.S. senator or a CEO of a large corporation, there is not much we can do about them, sadly.

What I have failed to realize is that there is a great deal of issues at NIU that are just as important, except these can be affected directly by our actions.

Look around campus and you’ll see so many others who have not yet come to this realization and, in turn, are not aware of some of the issues important to this University.

Ask 100 people on campus about the coffee fund scandal. I dare you. How many students could give you a brief explanation on what it was?

Sadly to say, before writing this column I couldn’t do so (at least to any degree of accuracy).

However, in recognition of a shortcoming, I have taken a vow to start writing columns on university issues and on university news.

These issues are not only crucial, they are close to us. We are the only ones at risk of harm here.

Who’s to say that the university will not enforce some outrageous tuition increase? Well, no one.

And although I have faith that our administrators know the difference between right and wrong, there are only two groups that can keep them in check: professors and students.

That means that members of the student body, myself included, have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to be informed about university issues.

But the problem here is not that we don’t care; on the contrary, here at Northern there is an outstanding amount of Huskie pride.

The 1,300 students who traveled to Miami for the BCS Orange Bowl with NIU’s package rate, the students who mourned the tragic loss of fellow Huskie David Bogenberger and the sea of NIU sweatshirts I see while walking to class show that every student here is proud to wear the name “Northern Illinois University.”

However, after a year filled with scandals and tragedy, it is important for students to know the facts, to be informed and to get involved.

Show the world that NIU is not just a school but a community, and that we come here not just to learn but to immerse ourselves in a community we are proud of.

Information is key and if more students know the facts, more students get involved and more students use their voice to address university issues the more our school can thrive.

Just as our football team demonstrated in the BCS Orange Bowl, NIU can take hits even in the big leagues. So as 2013 begins, make a commitment to yourself to read the newspaper, form an opinion and let it be heard.

Your voice is important and you can make it count.