2008 Woodie Awards
Young Americans' votes make a difference
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Editorial
Editorial
As though politically-driven Facebook statuses are not enough of an indication that a sense of anticipation is in the air, Feb. 5 happens to be Super Tuesday and better yet, college students seem to be getting pretty excited about it.
College students across the country are coming into their own as the 18-25 crowd comes up with creative ways to get peers excited about the polls.
In California young Americans 'tailgate the debate' and in South Carolina the youth vote tripled over the last Democratic primary. Students across the country are using Facebook, texts, Flikr, phone calls and old-fashioned pavement-pounding to promote the upcoming primaries, according to studentspirgs.org.
This passion must not wane as we have the opportunity to vote next week. We must likewise implement creative ways to remind our peers to take a political stance.
Charlotte Mullis, Hamilton county election commission chief deputy, said at least according to her own observances, more young people have visited the polls during the days to early vote than during primaries in years past.
According to Mullis, in the year 2000 175,204 people in Hamilton County were registered to vote and 42,198 voted. But the 24.02 percent of votes cast in 2000 decreased to 16.7 percent in 2004. Both the number of registered voters and the number of votes declined as only 27,514 votes were cast from the then 169,399 registered voters.
But according to www.youthvote.org, the youth vote is on the rise as 42 percent of 18-24 year olds cast a ballot in 2000, but 59 percent have reported they will be voting in the 2004 general election.
According to youthvote.org, 26,917,473 U.S. citizens are between the ages of 18 and 25. Now imagine if all of them voted.
As college students, we have a obligation to educate ourselves on the issues and use our votes to make a difference.
Let's debunk our reputation as young, unaware and disinterested in the issues and channel the passion we have for the issues that concern us into the polls as zealous college-age crowds across the country are already doing.
Feb. 5 is the last day to vote in Tennessee. See you at the polls.
As though politically-driven Facebook statuses are not enough of an indication that a sense of anticipation is in the air, Feb. 5 happens to be Super Tuesday and better yet, college students seem to be getting pretty excited about it.
College students across the country are coming into their own as the 18-25 crowd comes up with creative ways to get peers excited about the polls.
In California young Americans 'tailgate the debate' and in South Carolina the youth vote tripled over the last Democratic primary. Students across the country are using Facebook, texts, Flikr, phone calls and old-fashioned pavement-pounding to promote the upcoming primaries, according to studentspirgs.org.
This passion must not wane as we have the opportunity to vote next week. We must likewise implement creative ways to remind our peers to take a political stance.
Charlotte Mullis, Hamilton county election commission chief deputy, said at least according to her own observances, more young people have visited the polls during the days to early vote than during primaries in years past.
According to Mullis, in the year 2000 175,204 people in Hamilton County were registered to vote and 42,198 voted. But the 24.02 percent of votes cast in 2000 decreased to 16.7 percent in 2004. Both the number of registered voters and the number of votes declined as only 27,514 votes were cast from the then 169,399 registered voters.
But according to www.youthvote.org, the youth vote is on the rise as 42 percent of 18-24 year olds cast a ballot in 2000, but 59 percent have reported they will be voting in the 2004 general election.
According to youthvote.org, 26,917,473 U.S. citizens are between the ages of 18 and 25. Now imagine if all of them voted.
As college students, we have a obligation to educate ourselves on the issues and use our votes to make a difference.
Let's debunk our reputation as young, unaware and disinterested in the issues and channel the passion we have for the issues that concern us into the polls as zealous college-age crowds across the country are already doing.
Feb. 5 is the last day to vote in Tennessee. See you at the polls.
