Penn Editorial

Here's a pop quiz. What are the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment? What number amendment corresponds to what are known as the Miranda Rights? Which trio of amendments were passed after the Civil War, and what did they do? What is the only amendment to be repealed? For bonus points, what was the proposed Twenty-Seventh Amendment, and what's the state of it now?

So not everybody can be a Constitutional scholar. And what's more, put two or three "Constitutional scholars" in a room and there's no guarantee that they'll agree on even the most basic issues.

Nobody expects you to be able to recite the Preamble, unless you watched a lot of Schoolhouse Rock as a child and can sing it. (More bonus points for that.) Nobody even expects you to know all the amendments, especially the ones in the mid-twenties that no one can keep track of. Sorry, but it's true.

But if you're going to vote, which you should, you ought to be informed. And if you're going to be informed, which you should, you ought to be informed from the ground up. Get yourself more than a passing familiarity with your rights. Go see "A Casual Conversation with Framers of the U.S. Constitution" from 6-7 p.m. at the Folger Crimson Event Center. The more you know, the more sound your arguments will be, and the more sound your arguments are, the better chance you have at winning the political debate over Thanksgiving dinner. It'll be the highlight of your break - or, at least, it'll top watching the American Kennel Club Dog Show.

Go learn. Find a copy of the Constitution and read it. Listen to people recite it in the Oak Grove today from noon to 1 p.m. If you learn for yourself, you hone your ability to think for yourself. Don't rely on people shouting at each other on the television or the Internet, to tell you what the Constitution says. Rely on the fact that you read it when you were in college and have your own thoughts on what it means.

You're not going to agree with everyone. You might not agree with anyone. But if you've read it for yourself, you can back up your opinions. And anyway, one of those awesome things about the Constitution is that you don't have to agree.