Get involved ■
Cast Your Vote
Forgot to registerP Online
registration Is a breeze.
By Tamar Maor
Election time is just around the corner and that means you
need to register to vote. If you’re not into politics you proba
bly don’t even know what Bush’s stand on the defense policy is,
let alone who’s running for county sheriff or railroad commission
er. The Internet has a solution for those of you who don’t have
time to read the politics section of the paper every morning.
Registering to vote could never be easier once you visit
Democracy Net (democracynet.org) and click on “register to
vote.” Your computer will automatically download a printable ver
sion of the voter registration application complete with instruc
tions and deadlines for your state’s absentee ballot. (The applica
_ tion is in PDF format; if you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader you
can download it for free at adobe.com.) Once you mail that
envelope in you are ready to participate in the 2000 elections.
» If you don't want to send in an absentee ballot, or you’re not
registered at home, register to vote as a resident where you attend
college. The Democracy Net PDF lists voter eligibility for each
state. Some states have registration deadlines, so check soon.
Before you find yourself voting for the guy with the cooler
name, you might want to become a little more informed on the
candidates in your area. Once again go to Democracy Net and
enter your zip code. A list of your candidates will appear along with
their stand on popular issues. A little time surfing this site can make
you a much more informed voter and a much happier citizen.
These sites all have links to register to vote and provide a
wealth of information on candidates and issues.
Voter.com
Voter.com lets you register to vote,
check out what the candidates
stand for and track campaign con
tributions in your state.
This is the official site of the
perennial MTV campaign. It covers the standard issues as well as
which music artists are rocking the vote and how you can get
involved.
Rockthevote.com
Opensecrets.org
Opensecrets posts how much each candidate (presidential and
congressional) has raised and where the money comes from.
Enter your zip code to find out who is making big donations in
your area.
ESSBB3B59
This ambitious site aims to track every person holding office or
up for election in the U.S. It provides lists of campaign contribu
tors, voting records and interviews every candidate filing for
office on the issues they are likely to face for their constituen
cies. Take their test to see which candidate comes the closest to
matching your views. •
In the past year...
81.9% attended a religious service
26.0% discussed religion
45.9% participated in organized demonstrations
74.2% performed volunteer work
62.9% read the editorial page in the daily newspaper
14.0% discussed politics
Source: The American Council on Education and the UCLA Higher
Education Research Institute.
Behind the site |
Angry Little Girls
Lela Lee, the mind behind Angrylittlegirls.com, is a cartoonist,
actress and writer in Los Angeles. The site is a collection of comic
strips and short movies about Lee's posse of underdogs: six girls
from different ethnic backgrounds, all of whom have problems and
aren't afraid to show it. Visitors can ride to school with the girls, par
ticipate in a chat room and buy T-shirts on Lee's site.
A sister site, Angrylittleasiangirl.com,
was launched in April 1998, but the seeds
of the animated cartoon were planted in
1994 while Lee was a sophomore at UC
Berkeley. She attended an animation festival
with a friend and realized she didn’t relate
to any of the cartoons there.
“I was angry at the cartoons’ subject
matter. Most were male oriented with male
humor about feces, women’s humiliation
and drug trips,” said Lee.
bo she stayed up all night with a box of crayons, drawing the
first strip in the series, which now can be seen online in animated
form.
"Alag” is about a little Asian girl and—of course—her anger.
Anger at her mother, her classmates, prejudice and just about
everyone and everything that crosses her path.
STS: What was your site launch like?
LL: Building the site was an enormous undertaking. I thought it
would be simple but it proved to be complicated especially since I
knew nothing about computers. The amount of emails and hits I
got was amazing. I guess I hit a nerve.
STS: Do you have help?
LL: I only have help when I really need it. It’s really still like a
hobby for me, it’s out of my apartment so I try to keep it small.
STS: What’s your hit count?
LL: I don’t know and I don’t care!
STS: What kind of feedback do you j
get?
LL: It’s usually positive, occasionally I
get a person who doesn’t get what I’m j
angry about.
STS: Do you have another job?
LL: I’m an actress too, and have
appeared in several independent films
and television shows. -Molly Delano