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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Roland Martin tells students: Skip March Madness, fight to lower college costs instead

* Obama proposed eliminating bank subsidies for student loans; banks balked, he says

* He says students must press banks, lawmakers; stage sit-ins, pickets on education’s behalf

* Martin to students: If you want change, work for it

Editor’s note: Roland S. Martin, a CNN political analyst, is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of “Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith,” and the forthcoming book, “The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House.” He is a commentator for TV One Cable Network and host of a one-hour Sunday morning news show.

(CNN) — All this month, we will see thousands of college students from coast to coast, north to south, east to west, jumping up and down, yelling, screaming, pumping fists, sleeping outside in tents, painting their faces — all a result of the usual frenzy surrounding March Madness.

That’s the scene we see every year when college basketball teams are fighting and clawing their way to one of the precious 65 seeds that enter the NCAA Tournament.

But instead of doing all of that for basketball, these same students should say the heck with the games and put their energy, zeal and passion into two fundamental issues posing the most dramatic barriers to their college education: the rising cost of tuition and the lack of financial aid.

Read More at cnn.com