Throughout my childhood, politics was the primary topic of conversation at my dinner table. With the nightly news on in the background, the major story of the day often led to a long discussion over dinner. 

As I got older, I became more interested in politics and its ability to help people and improve society. I spent my high school years learning everything I could about the political system and the issues facing the American people. And, yes, The West Wing did contribute to my political education.

Still, as a rising senior and public policy major at Duke University, I find myself wondering whether public service is still an avenue through which one can help people, and I know most of my fellow public policy classmates possess similar views.

You might ask: Why would a group of bright, motivated students who are driven to help people through shaping public policy be so pessimistic about getting involved, helping people, and improving society?

It's simple. At one time, people used to get into politics because it was a noble profession. Politicians got involved in order to help their fellow citizens and to try and leave the world a better place. I believe each and every politician grew up as a kid and started their career with this belief in mind.

Today those kids would take one look at many of today's politicians and be dismayed.  Many of our politicians in Raleigh are no different. Several have been sidetracked by the draw of power and money and seem to be interested in only two things: themselves and the special interests that fund their campaigns every year. 

The current General Assembly has a great opportunity to pass sweeping ethics legislation that would help clean up years of corruption that has led North Carolina to be named among the most corrupt states in the country. More importantly, ethics legislation would go great lengths toward reassuring North Carolinians that our government is clean and can once again be trusted. However, instead of being bold and taking advantage of this chance to enact reform, our General Assembly seems hesitant to make the most of their opportunity.   

As children, we are all taught that fairness, equality and most importantly, behaving ethically, are the most important values of society. It should be a no-brainer that the same should be expected of us as adults, particularly those holding public office.

If I had the opportunity to speak directly to our North Carolina politicians I would say this: "Stop wavering about ethics reform legislation and start acting on it. This is not a partisan issue. There aren't numerous, conflicting viewpoints to consider. There is one side and one side only: Holding each and every public servant to the same high ethical standards taught to us as children."

We have serious problems facing this state and our country: problems in which we need the best and brightest wanting to be involved, representing us, and helping to find solutions. Unfortunately, every day spent without strong ethics laws is another day my generation becomes less inclined to get involved – something that hurts not just North Carolina now, but also hurts our state's collective future.

We need my generation to be engaged. We need the brightest students at Duke, UNC, NC State, NC Central, and every other university across this state and across this country, wanting to enter public service and help solve the problems we face. 

It's time for our politicians in Raleigh to stop steering clear of ethics reform and to start leading on it. To every public official in Raleigh: Send a message that rings loud and clear from the Cape Hatteras to Asheville, Wilmington to Eden, and to every county, city, and town in between, that your commitment to ethics reform is real and you are ready to step up and pass the strong ethics laws we need to clean up government.

Please, give the people of North Carolina a reason to once again have faith that their government will act in the best interest of the people of North Carolina and begin solving the very real and difficult problems we face as a state and as a country. 

Pass this ethics reform legislation and maybe, just maybe, my generation can be convinced that public service is once again a place where we actually help people and leave our world a better place than it is now. 

Andrew Gower is Senior at Duke University and an intern at Common Cause of North Carolina.