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REPRODUCTIVE OPTIONS
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Volunteer opportunities
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Hotline: (541)513-6607
Office: (541) 345-5702
VOTERS
continued from page 1
"I think students have a real hard
time seeing what student government
does for them," Strawn said. "I don't
think student government does a
good job of having a local direct im
pact on campus, and 1 think that's
why students don't participate."
ASUO Elections Board Publicity
Coordinator Nathan Strauss echoed
those sentiments.
"I think it's a lack of knowledge
about what's going on — a misunder
standing about how the ASUO affects
them," he said.
Strauss also said students see low
turnouts and their peers' unwilling
ness to vote and conclude that voting
doesn't matter.
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Current ASIJO President Maddy
Melton said students don't vote be
cause politicians don't represent
their interests, but politicians don't
represent students because students
don't vote.
While University political scientist
and survey researcher Joel Bloom
agreed that students feel voting is
pointless, he pointed to other factors
outside ASUO's control. First, he said
a lack of partisanship is partly to
blame for 10 to 15 percent voting
turnouts on many college campuses.
"People, generally speaking, know
what parties stand for," Bloom said,
adding that without parties, many
don't know where candidates stand.
Second, turnouts on campus are
low because people tend to vote in
places where they feel deep roots, and
many students don't see campus as a
permanent home, Bloom said.
Curtis Gans, 27-year director of the
Washington, D.C.-based Committee
for the Study of the American Elec
torate, said there are many reasons
young people nationwide avoid the
vote. He said it can be blamed on
everything from a decline in civic edu
cation in schools and newspaper
readership to the failure of political
parties to mobilize youth. He also cit
ed the erosion of trust in government.
Petkun said some students are just
impossible to reach.
"There are a few people that are
kind of proud of apathy," Petkun said.
But, those people are going to exist
everywhere, but it's still important to
try and serve them."
Elusive solutions
Many student government leaders
agree that a solution to low voter
turnout may come through outreach
PERCENT TURNOUT
50
40
30
20
10
0
ELECTION RESULTS
■ GENERAL ELECTION
□ PRIMARY ELECTION
* * Emerald archived stories
failed to differentiate between
general and primary election
when providing these numbers
for spring election turnouts.
/^#/###/#^//#
YEAR
RESEARCH: Jared Paben SOURCE: Emerald Archives, ASUO Elections Board, Oregon Bluebook J
programs educating students about
the ASlIO's importance. But, even
then, disagreement exists over who
should be doing it.
Elections Board members
Stephanie Day and Strauss spent
many hours coordinating publicity
for this year's elections, but they said
that's not enough. They simply can't
change students' attitudes about the
ASUO in the few months before elec
tions, Strauss said.
Day said the solution rests in the
hands of the ASUO president, vice
president and ASUO Student Senate.
Strauss agreed, saying ASUO lead
ers need to reach out to students, but
he stopped short of labeling the lack
of outreach as a shortfall of past ad
ministrations.
"There's only so much flyering and
advertisements you can do," Strauss
said. "People see it, but you can't force
them to vote... That comes from deeper
than just publicity. That's going to come
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from an administration that makes it a
priority to outreach to students, and it
takes time for that to happen."
Petkun said voter turnouts are very
important to both himself and Vice
President-elect Mena Ravassipour. They
will help brainstorm ideas for the elec
tions coordinator for increasing voter
turnout, but the coordinator is respon
sible for increasing voter awareness out
side of elections season, he said.
But Petkun pointed out that even
outreach is not perfect. He knocked
on countless doors in Eugene neigh
borhoods before ASUO elections this
year, but even that met with limited
success, he said.
Petkun said the solution to low vot
er turnout is not simple. Even with
outreach, it's difficult to reach stu
dents, especially those who are not
members of groups.
"I guess there is no silver bullet,"
Petkun said. "We're looking for it, but
we don't know what it is."
Contact the campus/
federal politics reporter
atjaredpaben@dailyemerald.com.
UO International
Studies
Summer 2004
Course Offerings
INTL 250 Value Systems in
Cross-Cultural Perspective
June 21—July 15, Prof. Proudfoot
INTL 251 Cooperation, Conflict,
and Global Resources
June 14—18, Prof. Wooten
INTL 407/507 Cross-Cultural
Images of Childhood in Film
June 21—July 2, Prof. Carpenter
INTL 407/507
Indian Society through Film
June 14—18, Prof. Weiss
INTL 407/507 Southeast
Asian Society Through Film
June 21—July 2, Prof. Carpenter
INTL 407/507 Women’s
Movements Around the World
July I 9—29, Prof. Weiss
INTL 407/507
International Adoption
July 17—18, Prof. Carpenter
INTL 410/510
Global Media and Culture
July 19—August 12, Prof. Mezahav
INTL 410/510 Arab Israeli Conflict
-AuiSst 12, Prof. Mezahav
Itural Survival
Proudfoot
INTL 432/53
Indigenous I
6-1 92
Oregon Daily Emerald
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