Page 4 Portland Observer, October 27, 1982
Voting and hope for future don't intersect
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by A tlison Engel,
Pacific News Service
LA SALLE, ILL — W ith their
overall unemployment running far
ahead o f the 10.1 percent U.S. aver
age, young people are the hardest
hit Americans in the nation’ s pro
longed economic slump.
Yet indications are that this No
vember they w ill also remain the
most silent at the polls.
An in fo rm a l survey o f young
people between 18 and 24, from
C a lifo rn ia to New Y ork, suggests
that none o f the issues which might
have provoked them to take new in
terest in voting is doing so. Neither
charges o f political unfairness and
economic neglect by the Reagan Ad
ministration in the East and North
Central states, nor the much bally
hooed nuclear freeze campaign in
the West, appears to have galvan
ized this segment o f the eligible
voting population.
Instead, a pattern which has seen
voting turno u t by those under 24
slip to just two-thirds the national
average—w ith a scant 23 per cent
casting ballots in the last off-year
election, 1978—w ill probably con
tinue.
A Lou Harris Poll confirms this
trend. In the month preceding the
1978 elections, 24 per cent o f the 18-
29-year-olds surveyed said they ex
pected to vote. By October, 1982,
that figure had dropped to 17 per
cent.
Analysis
While the reasons vary, in general
they point to a dram atic lack o f
faith in the a b ility o f the n a tio n ’ s
political leaders to solve problems
that the young feel most affected
by.
’ “Right now, it doesn’ t seem that
voting would make a difference in
whether I ’ m working or n ot,” said
Jeff Kemp, 19, o f Lacon, III., a laid-
o ff shipping clerk. Kamp added that
he is not registered because “ 1
haven’ t gotten around to it.”
Darryl Sims, 20, another unregis
tered voter interviewed outside the
same unemployment office here in
northern Illinois, was recently laid
o ff from his job as a stone-cutter in .
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FIGHT CRIME
W ITH
KERSLAKE
" V o tin g w ith th e ir fe e t" —young p eo p le heve
been slow to vote, preferring other methods. W ill
a ring factory. Among other things,
the resulting money crunch has
forced him to postpone getting mar
ried, he said. Sims doesn’t know if
his fiance is registered to vote either,
because “ it’s not a big topic o f con
versation w ith us. P olitics seems
like more or less a lot o f talk—not
something that affects us.”
Black young people, who as a
group are confronted today by 48.5
per cent unemployment, appeared
no more likely to vent anger via the
b allot box. Observed Thomas
Hines, 23, an unregistered and un
employed maintenance man from
suburban Washington, D.C., “ The
only politician who could help me
would be i f a young black person
was elected President.” Neverthe
less, said Hines o f his job d iffic u l
ties, “ I don’ t blame President Rea
gan because he wasn’t the one who
fired me.”
A recent survey by the University
o f Chicago’ s National Opinion Re
search Center confirm ed that the
young, especially, no longer look to
conventional politics for answers to
their dillemmas. Only 10.9 per cent
o f under-24 voters sampled ex
pressed “ great confidence” in the
n a tio n ’ s chief executive today,
down from 24.4 per cent in 1973.
Just 10.7 per cent say they have
great confidence in their legislators.
The confidence level o f older Amer
icans surveyed is nearly twice as
high.
A t New Y ork C ity ’ s B rooklyn
College, Director o f Puerto Rican
Studies Antonio Stevens-Arroyo re
ports that while politically-active
issues bring out the young people on N ovem ber
2nd?
(Photo: h ’cherd Brown)
students are approaching the issues
“ with more passion and more inten
sity this year,” nearly half those he
talked to about the upcoming elec
tio n had not even registered.
One explanation, he felt, might be
a phenomenon noted by Fordham
U niversity p o litica l scientist Dale
Nelson: Unlike most children o f im
migrants, Nelson found, Puerto Ri
can young people tend to vote less
often than their parents. Stevens-
A rroyo believes that those who do
become involved focus on the p o li
tics o f the T h ird W o rld , keeping
them outside the context o f U.S.
elections.
In California, where a well-publi
cized nuclear freeze initiative (Prop
osition 12) is on the ballot, anti-nu
clear activists have been hoping
aloud fo r a large youth turnout at
the polls. Jeremy Sherman, the cam
pus coordinator fo r the initiative,
claims that 5,000 students in the San
Francisco Bay Area have been regis
tered in the last month alone thanks
to freeze-organizers’ efforts. “ A lot
o f students were turned o ff by the
1980 election because they felt there
really wasn’ t a choice,” he said.
“ But the freeze initiative has rekin
dled some spirit in students.”
The freeze campaign does appear
to have provided an outlet for stu
dent energies that lack other p o li
tical focal points. “ There’s no poli
tician that is really for young people
now,” declared Toni Slattery, a 20-
year-old student at San Francisco
Statd, explaining why she is working
on the freeze campaign but not for
any candidates.
Nevertheless, just minutes away
from the big Bay Area campuses—
San Francisco State, Berkeley, Stan
fo rd —a different picture emerges.
At the nearby College o f Alameda
and M e rritt C om m unity College,
fo r instance, most students in te r
viewed dismissed the nuclear freeze
as a m ajor inducement to vote.
“ Freezing nuclear weapons is an
im p o s s ib ility ,” one commented.
“ The freeze m ight pass, but that
doesn't mean it ’ s going to have an
effect,” said another.
Susan Arrington, 22, interviewed
at the V irg in ia Unem ploym ent
Commission where she has been
going since she lost her jo b last
May, said she has never registered
and is “ still not sure about voting.”
Arrington, who is six months’ preg
nant, said the arms race is beginning
to w orry her because “ 1 want my
child to grow u p .” But, she con
cluded, it wasn’ t clear to her that
voting would solve the problem.
In New Mexico, the birthplace o f
the atom bomb, anti-nuclear issues
are expected to have little impact on
the election; too many residents de
pend on the nuclear weapons indus
try for their jobs. But even on other
issues, notes Robert Anderson, d i
rector o f the government research
division o f the U niversity o f New
Mexico, young people evidence little
desire to vote.
“ I hear the usual sniping com
ments about Reagan,” he said.
“ But there doesn’ t seem to be a
groundswell o f interest in doing
anything.”
21 Year Veteran Deputy
Elect John Kerslake
SHERIFF
He’s one of us. He's one of the best.
slake lai Sbarri» Camaatiaa Mana p m « i Tra
© PACIFIC NF.WS SERVICE, 1902
HOWARD WILLITS
Willits selected
Howard Willits was presented the
“ Roar o f the Tiger” award by the
Democratic Party o f Oregon. The
award is presented annually to a
person who ty p lifie s the courage
and independence o f Senator
Wayne Morse. W illits , a con-
sciencious objector during W orld
War I, was castigated by the
community for tending the graves of
P ortland’ s Japanese cemetary
during World War II.
Among the issues he has been
actively involved in are the anti-war
movement, the grape boycott, the
public power movement, the anit-
nuke movement. He was arrested in
Bangor, Washington for clim bing
over the fence during an anti-trident
dem onstration. W hile an Oregon
legislator, he hired the legislature’ s
first black secretary.
He can frequently be seen
carrying a picket sign, sometimes in
a crowd but often alone.
W illits gathers thousands o f
signatures on initiative petitions on
a variety o f issues. He is outspoken
and couragous in the defense o f
justice.
Vote
Nov. 2nd
A City Council Review Board Will Hurt the Police and Our City - Here's Why
jx"“r .
.
y r “ 'teounat
• n i W
TOO POLITICAL. Since tfw Committee would t>e
composed of 3 City Council members with subpoena
power, the opportunities for political grand standing and
iriterterence ore limitless Furthermore. the 3 Committee
members are themselves a majority on City Council and
could introduce ordinances to the full City Council for more
money and powers This is playing with a stacked deck
TOO COSTLY . The price adds up fast' The experience
of other cities has shewn such committees to be costly both
ir, terms of annual budgets, plus additional fur ids typically
allocated throughout the year Politicians cannot resist
goiriy back to the well for more Considering our city’s
economic problems, do we really need to allocate more
rnor -ey for duplicate services and more bureaucracy?
TOO M UCH RED TAPE.
A d eq u ate channels (19 in
all) already exist for citizens to register police complaints
Why create one more layer of needless bureaur ra< y '
Other cities have tried similar Committees
and many
have aisbanrjed them
TOO DEMORALIZING. How would y< >u like to have
politicians second guessing you in your job'’ Portland
needs a professional, responsible, assertive police lorr.e
that can function without fear of being publicly mis|udg«xt
by politicians who are amateurs at yx»lir <• work Io take
even the slightest initiative away from our police hurts all
law abiding citizens Vote NO on #51
VOTE NO #51 AGAINST REVIEW BOARD
HANDCUFF CRIMINALS, NOT YOUR POLICE.
Why make a tough |ob tougher ?
I 'ijt f lk x r jy i .live» ■, lr< o S u lH l'r« rta rx l« llO B SI O n - .|’i* n .» « ) 't l'A A • Z 11 3935