Our
View: Student involvement absent, voting
needed
It
was extremely disappointing to find out
last week only 679 students voted during
the 49er and Dig Referendum elections
last week. We are not complaining
because the referendum did not pass,
but it must be said that at a school
that brags about being the third largest
university in the West, with over 34,000
students, that is one sad little number.
We are all broke college students who had to switch from Abercrombie clothes
to Target once we were out on our own. All of us have faced crushing tuition
fees and eye-popping textbook prices. But let’s be honest, if we are
stressed about the 10-page essay we put off until the night before or a test
the following day that seems to define our entire college existence, we do
one of two things.
Either we make a mad dash to the nearest Starbucks for a quick caffeine rush
or to a nearby grocery store for a six pack to share with our fellow stressed
out college pals. Both of these cost at least $4, if not more. Many probably
looked at the vote, saw was the word “increase” and wanted nothing
to do with it.
The referendum outcome was disheartening, but this is not about that. Voting
in general is something to be taken seriously. This is just one example of
younger generation not giving important issues the attention they deserve.
It was also apparent in the Associated Student Inc. elections that the majority
of students on this campus do not feel their votes count or they simply do
not care. Hironao Okahana, the winning candidate for ASI vice president, won
with only 592 votes (winning by only 7 votes to opposing candidate Juancarlos
Mariano).
Whatever the reason, not voting hurts everyone, including yourself. Many people
do not realize just how much of a privilege voting truly is. For those women
out there, our foremothers were thrown into prison while trying to win the
right to vote. We complain about not being heard or taken seriously as young
people, yet we shy away from speaking up when it counts.
According to a survey done by non-profit organization Project Vote Smart, 32
percent of people ages 18 to 25 said they were not even registered to vote.
In the 2004 elections, according to civicyouth.org, only 47 percent of this
age group actually voted.
Voting is something people anywhere else in the world would kill for, literally.
Coming together and making decisions as a unified society is a freedom many
people throughout the world only dare dream of. It has been handed to us on
a silver platter and we are looking the other way and in our spoiled, lassitude
petulance we send it back to the kitchen with complaints.
We should vote not only because those who came before us made incredible sacrifices
to get what they deserved or simply because we are young and need to be heard.
We owe it to ourselves. A good place to start is on our very own college campus.
If voting in national elections seems intimidating, school elections are the
perfect way to select fellow students who will invoke the continuing change
we all hope to see. Whether it is voting about creating a better newspaper
or electing a new political leader we all need to step up to the plate and
make a little noise with our trusty ballots.
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