I am a senior in high school at Aurora, Nebraska.  Our school isn't that big, and we are only a small group of people who are concerned with what we can do to make our society the best that it can be, or at least better than it currently is.  There are so many issues that need to be addressed, and most high school students think that these issues don't affect us as much as they would an adult, but they do.  And I would like to discuss some of the issues that concern me the most.

    The main issue that I would like to discuss, is the War in Iraq.  What do you plan on doing about that?  Do you think it would be a good idea to bring our soldiers home, or at least some of them?  Or is it vital that we keep them over there?  My sociology teacher told me that there are a lot of good things that happen over there, but the media only shows us the bad things, mainly to freak us out.  But I think that if the media would be willing to show some of the good things happening, the people would have a more positive outlook on the war, and not be so negative about the topic.  Also, the war is taking so much money from our government.  My current issues teacher said that we are about $9 billion dollars in debt.  If that is true, why on earth would we be wasting our money on the war?  Is it that great of an investment?

    The second topic that comes to mind is the price of oil and gas.  I love to drive, thus I use a lot of gas and put a lot of money towards gas.  But many teenagers are in the same situation.  However, I had to cut back on how much I drove the past few months, because the cost of fuel reached an ultimate high over the summer.  And it was said to continue to increase due to the storms.  Is this really true, that the recent hurricanes have to do with the increase of gas prices this summer?  If so, how much do you think the price of fuel will increase?  Is there anything that you can do to prevent it?  If not, do you think that the price of oil and gas will ever go down?

     The third topic, isn't really a major problem where I live, but is a huge concern across the country.  That is, of course, abortion.  I've always believed that abortion is wrong.  If it's a crime to kill a human being, why should it be different if the being is alive, but not yet born?  It's still a human being, is it not?  It has been estimated that approximately 46 million abortions are performed worldwide every year.  Of these, 20 million happen where the procedure is illegal.  Does this concern you?  This is a huge number of illegal procedures.  Do you think that people should be punished for having an abortion?  Also, is there some way that you can prevent abortion from happening in all states or countries? 

    This is probably the first time I have expressed my concerns about major issues to anyone.  I may only be one voice, but I know that there are a lot of people who just want the best for our country.  I hope you take this to heart.