It is almost 2008 and with the coming of a new year, there will be “soap boxing” political candidates, debates, and many flyers and demonstrations around campus! This upcoming Presidential Election will be an exciting and potentially history-making event with a potential first minority president, one of which could possibly be our own Governor Bill Richardson.
So with all the exciting debates and speeches from political candidates coming to our state and our universities, how much will it change the turn out rate of College students actually voting?
According to a nationwide campus survey conducted by Tufts University, the more college students discuss politics and current events outside of class, the more likely they were to vote. However, there are many other factors that equate into a students choice to vote or not that include the major the student is studying, how politically active their family is and how politically active their college or university is.
This survey found that about 88% of students who discuss politics and current events outside of class on a near-daily basis said they went to the polls on Election Day. This number dropped however to 66% when those who discussed politics outside of class only a few times a month.
This survey also found that the major the student was studying also effected the turn out rate at the polls. Students who major in engineering, math, science and education are found to have voted the least often of the students surveyed.
I think that personally, which major I am studying isn’t a factor for me voting or not, it’s that I have a major in the first place. I feel that I am sometimes too wrapped up in studying for tests, writing papers, going to class, and working part time to pay attention to politics and how it affects my life and my future, and feel that a lot of other students feel the same way. I don’t feel that it is a lack of caring about the subject, it’s just sometimes we don’t have the time or mental energy to take away from the subjects we are studying until its really crunch time and elections are right around the corner. Only recently have I been paying more attention to politics, economics, policymaking and the world around me outside of my campus life.
One of my friends actually dosent exercise his right to vote at all because he dosent feel like he has enough knowledge on the subjects they are debating and dosent want to make an uneducated decision or base his opinion on superficial reason. But at the same time, he dosent have the time to devote to really understand the issues until he is probably out of college and no longer engulfed in studying.
I also think that the voting turn out will be determined on how active the candidates are with visiting Colleges and Universities and discussing their views with the student body, and how active the student body is about debating the points among friends and family.
But how much does the candidates coming on campus really effect who and how they vote?
Perhaps having our own state governor campaigning brings the choice of voting and the election that much closer to home (literally), and will catch the attention of more UNM students to learn, question and decided on political opinions.
I am really interested in seeing how UNM will change leading up to election time next fall due to the fact that I have never been in college during a major presidential election and am excited to see everything unfold.
So I say, bring on the flyers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I tend to be "quietly" politcally active - I vote, but I don't get too involved in the process otherwise (other than talking to friends and co-workers, and family about the election).
But I always call parts of campus "the gauntlet" when there are a lot of demonstrations or some form of "info-pushers" on campus. I don't really mind them, but I've been known to "call someone" on my cell phone when I pass by - is that such a bad thing?
I definitely agree that the more often candidates visit, the more likely students are to vote. I remember being on UNM campus when political "figures" (such as Michael Moore, Al Franken) visited, and the student body did seem much more politically active around those events as well.
So I think I welcome the visits too, even if people like Anon 10/19 may fear the "gauntlet" - I think its an important intrusion into our daily lives!
The closer we get to election the more the politcal parties come out of the wood work across campus. Yes you have all the volunteers on the corner of Central and in front of Zimmerman pushing their canidates agenda, but you have a lot of people roaming providing students the chance to become registered to vote.
I am a political junkie, but when a canidate wants to win a race and they look at statistics it is clear they have to win over the "baby boomer" and "seniors" to win an election. So if we want our issues as students brought to the head of the line, we have to do our part in giving canidates a reason to campaign to us.
I am a full-time student work full time so I know how difficult it may seem to work in learning something about our presidential canidate is, but it is SO IMPORTANT. And with the internet it is honestly very quick and easy to see where each canidate stands on an issue, all it takes is a little effort.
Post a Comment