Don't Know Where To Vote? Read On...

With an abundance of programs like Rock the Vote encouraging the youth of America to get out this election year and make their voices heard, one would think that the young people of our country would be chomping at the bit for the chance to vote. Whether you’re chomping at the bit to express your opinions or just choosing the lesser of two evils on Tuesday, it’s important to know where you have to go to vote.

The Collegeville Borough Hall is the only place in Montgomery County that the residents can vote. Luckily, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away from campus. However, locating a polling place for your residential address does NOT necessarily indicate that you are a registered voter. You may also contact your county voter registrations office to verify your voter registration status and obtain your polling place location. To check if you are registered you can log on to http://canivote.org/. You can vote from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM on April 22, 2008 for Pennsylvania Presidential Primary. A proper form of photo identification, such as your driver’s license or Ursinus student ID card, is necessary to bring with you. The most important thing during the voting process is to make sure that you know who you are voting for and that they represent your take on how America should be run. Though there is the greatest buzz being made about the presidential primary, there are also primaries for state and local councils. You can also only vote if you are registered as a Democrat or a Republican.

UC has been very active during this grueling time. Ursinus College Democrats have sponsored speakers such as Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, to come and speak to students and also have taken it upon themselves, on numerous occasions, to make sure that we students get out and vote! Back in February, the UC Democrats came out to a Sankofa Umoja Nia (SUN) meeting and offered those who weren’t registered to vote the opportunity to register. Malissia Holmes, a resident of New Jersey, filled out the absentee ballot to be able to vote in Pennsylvania. There is no reason to be hesitant. The application took no more than 5 minutes to fill out. For mostly all of UC students, this will be our first time voting, so the decision that we make is a great one. Fortunately we don’t have to go far in order to make our voices hear.

If you’re going by car, you want to start out going SOUTHEAST on E MAIN ST toward 5TH AVE. The Collegeville Borough Hall is at 491 E Main St Collegeville, PA 19426, just across from Marzella’s. The Hall is handicap accessible, just in case.

And for those students without vehicles and not lucky enough to live in Keigwin or Commonwealth, the building is just a walk across the campus and there is the opportunity to vote. Take advantage of this chance!

Caroline Kennedy Comes to Ursinus

On Friday, April 11^th, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, spoke to a nearly full Bomberger Auditorium at Ursinus College. Kennedy was there to speak in support of the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. This event was organized by the Ursinus College Democrats and the Ursinus for Obama campaign.

Andrew Lane, head of the Ursinus for Obama campaign, introduced the first speaker, Representative Rosa DeLauro. DeLauro took the stage to thunderous applause. She spoke quickly and energetically, and drove home the point that youth vote is important to the Democratic primary. DeLauro expressed her opinion that “what our country needs is bold new policies, and the only way to get there is with bold new politics that are infused with the popular energy that is in this room!”

DeLauro spoke about issues that Obama has promised to take care of, such as “vanquish[ing] the special interests that are so dominant in Washington, D.C.” She supports Obama because she believes that he can renew the idealism that made America special and restore America’s morality. He also wants to make higher education and healthcare more accessible and affordable. DeLauro also expressed her support for Obama’s desire to protect and create jobs as well as ending the war in Iraq.

Representative DeLauro introduced Caroline Kennedy, who took the stage to a standing ovation. After the applause died down, she began to speak confidently about her decision to announce her support for Barack Obama for President of the United States. After hearing her children talk about him, she researched Obama and publicly announced her support for him in the New York Times on January 27^th, 2008. Kennedy also emphasized the importance of getting involved in this election. She revealed that when her father was elected President, if one person in every precinct had voted for someone else, he would have lost. “One vote has power.”

She added that she still hears that people were so inspired by her father. “I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans." She referred to a poll that had people vote for which former president they would like to see in office again. The top two were John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. “They were able to articulate vision and inspire people to come together and believe in America.”

Kennedy said that Obama in the White House was not just desirable but necessary. “We need Barack Obama as our president. We need a president who will fight to give every child a first-class education, who will restore our commitment to civil rights, who will end the war in Iraq. Barack Obama is the person to do all those things.”

More than anything, Kennedy’s last words sum up the thrust of her speech. “It’s up to you.”

Stand Up, You're Rocking the Vote!

Young people in America are notorious for being apathetic about politics. There are numerous reasons as to why this may be. They may lack the will to register to vote or they don’t know which party to affiliate themselves with. They may simply not care and don’t want to take the time to research the candidates. They may feel as though their vote won’t make a difference or they don’t like any of the candidates. In college in particular, it’s easy to get caught up in campus life and be completely unaware of everything that is going on with political campaigns. This article explores the various views of voting that Ursinus College students embody.

Sophomore English major Gianna Paone is not registered to vote. She has a lot of strong viewpoints about what needs to change in the American government. However, she doesn’t want to affiliate herself with a party, and, under PA law, only those registered under a party may vote in the primaries. Paone worries that she may find herself affiliated with a candidate whose views she may not fully support. She doesn’t want to vote and then regret her decision. However, she does plan to register to vote over the summer in time for the fall election. She thinks that her vote will make a difference because if everyone in the world thought their vote didn’t count, the results would be different. “At least, that’s what my teachers are telling me,” she adds. She doesn’t know who she’s going to vote for as of yet. Paone feels that the war in Iraq needs to end ASAP and that both abortion and the death penalty should be done away with. She wants stricter laws on gun control, “which none of the politicians seem to be prioritizing” and a way to resolve the national debt “by means other than massively taxing Americans.”

Senior Business & Economics major Eric Rembert is also not registered to vote. He says that he doesn’t really care about voting. However, he adds that if he were home in New Jersey he would have voted. He had a chance to watch the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and that sparked an interest in the Democratic Party. However, he’s unsure about who he would vote for in the primary. He’s passionate about creating enough jobs for everyone. “I do feel my vote will make a difference, and I promise to vote in New Jersey in November.”

Senior Psychology major Brittany Fernandez is registered to vote in Florida, and she sent in her absentee ballot to make her voice heard. She said that she voted for Obama because “he’s the candidate that can bring the country together…we’re the United States; we can’t be divided.”

For most college students, this is their first chance to vote in a presidential election. They may not be taking the primary election seriously, but they do realize the importance of the election. It is all it’s cracked up to be.

Candidates at a Glance

By now, it’s clear who the front-runners in this presidential election are. The Republican presidential candidate will most likely be John McCain and, though the nomination is hotly contested, the Democratic Presidential candidate will either be Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Rodham Clinton served as the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 and was elected as the junior Senator for New York State in 2000. She was reelected in 2006. As First Lady, she advocated the Clinton health care plan, which failed to gain approval by the U.S. Congress in 1994. In 1997 and 1999, Clinton supported the establishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act. As a senator, she initially supported the Bush administration on some foreign policy, voting in favor of the Iraq War Resolution. She has since opposed the handling of the Iraq War and has disagreed with the Bush Administration on most domestic issues.

Barack Obama is the junior United States senator from Illinois. He is representing the Democratic Party nomination. He has worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and a civil rights lawyer. He then served in the Illinois senate from 1997 to 2004. He announced his campaign for the United States Senate in 2003, and one year later at the Democratic National Convention, he delivered the keynote speech. He was elected into the Senate in 2004. Obama was a member of the Democratic minority in the 109^th Congress and cosponsored legislation to control weapons, and to control public accountability for federal funds. Currently, a member of the 110^th congress, he has aided legislation for climate change, nuclear terrorism, electoral fraud and more. In this election, some of his campaign points are ending the Iraq War, increasing energy dependence, and providing universal health care.

Senator John McCain is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He also serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He attended and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958. Upon graduation he spent a career as naval aviator where he has received naval honors such as Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1982 he was elected to the U.S House of Representatives and is currently the Senior Senator of Arizona.

Senator McCain ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2000 election. During his current campaign, he has focused on pro-life and issues concerning free trade. He is in favor of private Social Security accounts and welfare reform and opposes an expanded government role in health care.

All three candidates have strong opinions on issues important to Americans today. Whether you’re conservative, liberal, moderate or what have you, it’s important to hear the voices of these politicians and vote for the candidate you feel will be the best leader for this country.

Absence is No Excuse

What is one to do when they are away from home during an election? That is the case for many here at Ursinus College. Many are from nearby states like New Jersey and Delaware, but many come even further from Oregon and Vermont. There’s a wide variety, but everyone’s got to vote somehow. If every student who was away from home chose not to vote, the voting would surely be skewed.

It’s crucial for every member of every town to vote. That one vote can make an absolute difference in the outcome of any election. Everyone’s voice can be heard and everyone’s opinion is important. The structure of our government is based upon citizens voting for those who they want to represent this country.

Students can easily apply for an absentee ballot if they cannot make it home on the day of elections. All they have to do is write a letter to the election commissioner of their town with all the information needed. A family member can even apply for it for them. They must be a registered voter to be able to do this.

It’s even more important to encourage students to vote because of the lack of young people voting. If absentee ballots aren’t encouraged, even fewer young people will be voting. The young people of our country have showed a lack of effort to even register to vote. Many in this generation also show a lack of interest in the elections. They rarely choose to watch presidential debates on television or read an article in the paper that would inform them about the candidates and issues. Just like many in our country, they feel their vote won’t make a difference. If we all felt this way, our government wouldn’t function.

Olivia Oller, a sophomore here at Ursinus College, is in this particular position. She is from Bennington, Vermont and didn’t want to miss out on the presidential primary. She is very passionate about her vote counting for her town and contributing her opinion to this crucial election. “Absentee ballots are extremely helpful in an election like this where you want to contribute to your local elections and can’t be near home,” says Olivia. Olivia was extremely happy she was able to get her vote in.

Veronica Perry, a freshman here at Ursinus College, is another student happy to be able to contribute a vote. She is a representative of Connecticut and didn’t want her vote to go uncounted. This is her first time away from home during an election as well as her first time voting in an election as crucial as this one. Veronica says, “I feel I should still get to have a say in the election even though I’m away from home. I want to be able to contribute my opinion and hope my choice of candidate is elected.”

Many college students may choose not to vote but there are some who have strong opinions and will contribute their vote via absentee ballot.