Still, perhaps it is unrealistic to expect active student involvement in the 1992 presidential campaign. For some, the ease with which a spring semester vow can be broken is too tempting to be passed up. But, with nations across the globe waging battle for the right to representative government, it is nothing less than criminal to neglect your ability to help choose the next leader of this country.

With that in mind, the most significant extracurricular step to take this month would be registering to vote in the Massachusetts presidential primary (assuming you're not registered at home). Those not yet on the rolls have until February 11 to add their names to the election list (or change party preference, as this writer plans to do).

WHETHER ONE CHOOSES the path of social or political action, the new tradition of student apathy at Harvard must be broken. The notion that issues worthy of student protest went out with the '60s and '70s is completely misconceived.

When consumer advocate-cum-presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke at the Kennedy School two weeks ago, he advised students to question campus administrators and their agendas. Undergraduates should demand the disclosure of Harvard's corporate contacts, Nader said. The president of the University should be required to deliver a state of the school address. The seven most powerful figures at Harvard's helm--the members of the Corporation--should be forced to meet with students. Maybe he's right.

Whatever the case, whether one agrees with Nader's suggestions or not, there is clearly a large silence waiting to be broken by the voices of student protest and a void ready to be filled with the activism of social and political groups.

For example, groups have already begun meeting to plan a joint protest in expectation of a possible Harvard address by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Such efforts of student mobilization merit praise. Other students should leave their carrels in Lamont to combat the politics of hate in this election season.

In any case, students may prove to be key in this country's attempts to solve social and political ills. Two candidates for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, have caught on to this approach and advocate a program whereby the government would provide high school graduates with college tuition money in return for a commitment of community service.

IN HIS FAMOUS "I have a dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr., who was commemorated yesterday in a Memorial Church service, said "now is the time" for true social change in the United States. That was over 18 years ago.

Today, such words still ring true. This semester is the time to put down the books for just a few minutes each week to get involved in social action groups or political organizations. Because now really is the time. As Ralph Nader said, "If you don't desire to shape the University, when it's at your disposal, it is doubtful you have prepared your-self for the democratic world of the future in which you'll play a part." He was pontificating, to be sure. But he was right.

So if your New Year's Resolution was too hard for you to keep, make a New Term Resolution to make a difference instead. Unlike so many others, this commitment goes beyond yourself and affects the lives of others. Now is the time to keep a promise so often broken.

College students can be the ones to make a difference for many in this country who are struggling. Call me naive. Call me overly-idealistic. But call that struggle real life for many Americans.