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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1995)
How to charm jaded potential voters in 12 easy months The sc nimble is again on to make voting seem cool. BY BONNIE DATT A'** Mil llMTlW Hi **\ i.ii ti. i ,fi. S\UM\%) [ y-fl« >: nug) ClAJHJ i Hu.i**, ( jiOfti .1 U'\vi<rvt;U*> V Ol’IJ) '% HI I HI HRs I NH t|(i\ that hinges on who has t lu be si Web site? In ‘id. Hill ( linton wem tor sa\ appeal on Arsertio. Now the hip tiling is to go online. Worlds ol information about each candidate QuickTime movies of speeches we didn't listen to the first time around, pictures ot monuments, (lags and seals, copies cif Senate hills arc as atlablc at the t Its i. of a mouse. No doubt ss c II soon he able to down load adorable pictures of Pli11 (irarmn as a toddler, i'hat s progress? I lie 18 to 2 i seat old vote steadils jj dec lined from 1972 | sslien the voting age ssas lowered ro 18 and percent ol that age group voted until an upswing in when *2..S percent voted. Hut lM saw new lows, uith only 20 percent ot 18 to 2 k \ car olds voting. Now the scramble is again on to make voting seem cool. I wont a new plug ollegr student* can literally !>c the deciding t*»r in this election. sass Kevin i»carv, (. ollegc : ' • -■ : ■ ’ . 'U : ' tin i^th anniversary of the change to an 18 voting age. I we re m the position to issue a challenge to out gen j craticm. Your future oat Make" t #o to the polls because our age group has onlv had the vote fut sears* Whatever everyone needs a gtrnmuk Of touisc, the biggest gimmicks come at those every four seat blowouts Wha! else but a presidential election would induce Madonna to swathe herself in an American Hap and nothing else Ok kid example \ mj|or presidential cio non will attiact a kit of voters cas* (of t .alii t olicge Republican* national chan Hoi generally undent* ate (item apathetic 1 hr maiorit* ate their to pet an education, bettrt thensveivr* and pet a part of the American I fleam I citn Ids* aid* a prad student who nine ( olicge I'ark libertarian* at the l' of Maryland, notices this attitude at ho school. ‘1 don't think a lot of them take political ptoup* seriously. he say* \Y c don’t have a mb to pise them riplii now Mike fuel, \nroiia dale chair of the College Republican* agree* that political interest tall* off oiur a major rlcctmn passe* 'Only a tew of us arc s.idtvtie enough io keep inW)h«l. Bui I don’t ihmk the apalhv on campus is any greater than 111 the nation as a whok " And not because students aren t dev king them selves in tevi, while and blur doetn t mean thev don t tare ( ampuses anti communities have thou sandi of groups soctal, tmnumniun cm iron menial, religious. political lhai divide Modems lime and attention Cicarv, a senior at St. Joseph s College in Penn sylvania, worries about loss voter turnout, too, but he also thinks activism tv alive and well on campus Although I hate the term CicnX. we .ire («cnX because we don t have anything tangible to rally around.' (*car> save Are students doing something besides going to classes and partying on the weekends' Yes. they arc. whether it s getting involved in (irecn Peace. Amnesty International or other smaller orgam/a nuns, or volunteering it’s just not rallying around one issue What’s at Issue here? So how will organizations get students tired up about one issue that small nutter ot who's going to run our country tor the next four scars? Rock the \ otc. which targets 18 to 24 year olds m its drive to encourage voting, had remark able success with the ‘92 election Hut l)6 is going to be a different challenge, save Pam Hatru, media director AX r re not trails sure we have the same level icnu u» need immediate graufuaiion I hctc was a lot of exucemenc in the K>2 election ami with Clinton a\ j young president. but tbrrc not 4 lot of Ittciju Jtu-nt!ii!i ah,.!)! what hr .lul ojkc hr got into oilier ihcfc was 4 serious drop m the citMion. and we got a nos l ongtew that is not inter CMcti in vouch issues 4 \nd \X j'hitig; i■!: w .m - | sate about youth issues it i| ’ .r' ■ . • •• Barra saw | I Ukobih.-i v -tinpuso. [•. bung attention to youth issues It students talk about them, the issues will be jddressed H thev tc not addressed, thrv re going to be overlooked Making mu derm aviate of the i«uc» u the ( ollcgc Dcmoajti mam goal saw Arnold, com muniuiuiiH director fur College Dcmocrim 4tui 4 senior at the l of St rhoitUA in Mmiirwitj '^c warn to ctlutaic them, gel them to vote and then we hope that when dies sole this 11 vote Democrat |uc! also dunks rdtiijtton o the Ivcvt tactic, hut he says tt goes beyond just getting students tntetest evi ill the election He ■ wars of sourids-good poll t isv that, upon esjrmrutton, tie full of holcv In students got fairly involved tttth the presidential election because of the great work lot school progutm ptopoved by ( lirmin. hut thev wrten t rralh invulsrd enough to really ehcvk out the details, he say s Halit thinks colleges are teeming with uituctvi lives, and l oUege Republivatty hope to tap into tt lhcs might not seem avtivc, but if you talk to them, you 11 find that tins generation is generally vonsers alive, “ he saw “Our ideas are ideas that thrs van grasp If sve
