To this year's incoming freshman -- born in 1990 -- Nelson Mandela has always been free from prison, the Cold War is a history lesson and the Internet has always been a click away. Yes, they're newbies in many ways but their collective voice could have a significant impact on the 2008 Presidential Election. The question is: Will college students turn out to vote?
"The trend since the 2000 Presidential Election is that voting and civic engagement have been increasing among young people," says Melinda Jackson, an SJSU assistant professor of political science who has conducted research on students' political attitudes on campus. "But young people are still less likely to vote than older people." Factors that keep students from going to the polls, Jackson says, include moving around a lot, juggling work and school, feeling cynical and confused about the political process, and feeling that partisan politics is irrelevant to them.
To engage reticent young people, both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have interactive websites. Obama's site directly targets young people, offering links to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, videos on YouTube, and campaign messages on constituent-specific sites like AsianAve and MiGente.
However, Jackson warns that the jury is still out on how well such campaign tactics actually work. While young people are much more likely to use the Internet to get information about the candidates, they are also more likely to be turned off by a strong partisan agenda. On campus, Bryan DeWinter, '08 Political Science and former chairman of the SJSU College Republicans, co-hosted bipartisan events with his club's Democratic counterpart, the Democratic Caucus. Yet even working together doesn't guarantee success.
"There is political awareness on campus," says DeWinter. "But beyond classes, homework and employment, if students are going to put anything else into their schedules, it's going to be fun time."
How do SJSU students make politics fun? Sarah Bronstein, political science junior and president of the SJSU Democratic Caucus, arranged presidential debate-watching events earlier this year that she says looked more like Super Bowl parties, complete with pizza and popcorn.
"When a football game is done, it's done, but people take politics home with them," says Bronstein. "Getting more involved in the civic process enlivens people."
Will pizza, blogs and well-crafted websites mean more young people at the polls? Election Day is just around the corner.
-Jody Ulate, '05
print
email