The Political Fountain of Youth
Matthew Segal wrote an eloquent piece in today’s Huffington Post on the impact and central role of college-age voters in this election and politics in general. A graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio and founder/executive director of S.A.V.E. (Student Association for Voter Empowerment), Segal explains simply and clearly that college students’ passion and enthusiam set them apart from the rest of the population:
“2. Students not only care about their college communities, but also give tremendous service to them: I know from my experience at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH that students leave an indelible mark on their communities. Whether through tutoring children; bringing local farm products into campus cafeterias; or cleaning area parks, roads, and forest preserves; college students invest heavily in their school environments.”
With this in mind, we turn now to an article by Sophia Yan in a recent edition of The Oberlin Review, the college newspaper of Oberlin College in Ohio. Issues such as vote caging and Ohio’s 20 electoral votes have greatly impacted Oberlin students’ decisions regarding where they vote:
“Work at the grassroots level, through groups such as OPIRG and the Oberlin College Democrats, both part of the non-partisan Student Voter Coalition, has also affected voter registration. Colorado resident and College senior Jamey Arent decided to vote in Ohio after coming to Oberlin. Because he did not turn 18 until after the 2004 election, Arent had never been registered in Colorado to begin with. Early on in his Oberlin career, he was approached in the Wilder mailroom about registering. He said, “All the buzz about the importance of Ohio in 2004…partially influenced my decision.”
This year, College senior David Gutherz decided to vote early in Ohio; he expressed concern about voter fraud with absentee ballots. Gutherz, who hails from Virginia, has voted there in previous elections. He is “hoping it makes a difference” this time around.
The 2008 presidential election has drawn voters from every corner of the United States, and eyes from around the world are trained on what’s happening. Such attention has led to both media and public scrutiny of the election process, and some people still feel that the process is problematic.”
College students have and will undoubtedly continue to play a central role in the politics of this country and it is clear from these distinct yet related articles just how great their influence will be this coming Tuesday.
Tags: David Gutherz, Electoral College, Gambier, Kenyon college, Matthew Segal, Oberlin College, Ohio, OPIRG, S.A.V.E., Sophia Yan, Student Association for Voter Empowerment, Student Voter Coalition, The Huffington Post, The Oberlin Review, Virginia, vote caging
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