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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1988)
*/«_/Mg t y u §W V| HHHBHIHBHHIlH^HHi RHHHRHHBBH s—ff-.v'-yr-' Presidential candidates look to youth for Photo by Fred Joe Students sit at tables in the MSC telling passers-by about their candidates. ByStaci Finch You know it’s coming. The television ads have been increasing in number and intensity. Flyers are everywhere. Newspaper articles abound. It only happens once every four years, and no, it’s not the Olymipics. It’s SUPER TUESDAY! Although it may seem like the presidential election of 1984 was just yesterday, four years have passed since then and it’s almost time to elect a new president. All the hopefuls have spent lots of time and money making their views known, and the biggest primary day of all. Super Tuesday, is just around the comer. When you vote, you will probably vote for the candidate who you think can do the best job and will best serve the nation’s interests. Or do you even care? Does it even seem to you, a Texas A&M college student, that the candidates care about the voting youth? Or does it seem the candidates focus more on the older voting public, and that they address social security and the farming crisis, issues that might not be as immediate to you as your test next Tuesday, and therefore you probably won’t even make it to the polls? Well, whatever the rumors may be about apathetic college students who could care less about who wins the 1988 election, many candidates say they are concerned about the youth vote. flyer released by the Mike Dukakis for President committee says Dukakis is very interested in the college-age vote. The flyer says he plans to end the problems with Pell Grants and college work loans, initiate tuition prepayment plans and develop a better method of paying back student loans. Dukakis isn't the only candidate candidate who says he is concerned with the needs of college-aged students. Democratic candidate Jesse Jackson’s national youth director Rae Lewis says Jackson is very interested in the youth vote. “Rev. Jackson was a student leader himself, and he is very interested in the youth of today,” Lewis says. “In 1984 he visited more college campuses than any other candidate, and in 1988 we are at the same level of visitations. ” Lewis says they use students in high levels of the campaign, and not just to stuff envelopes. “We have campus coordinators, who handle all the visits Jackson makes. ” she says. “Also, people who have helped us in the past are now state representatives in their own states and they got a lot of their experience helping run our campaign. ” Senator Paul Simon's student coordinator Jennifer Rigger says Simon has strong views on education. “Simon is very interested in the youth vote,” Rigger says. “His views on education have been very strong, and we are targeting as many college campuses as we can during this campaign." Rigger said the Simon campaign funnels many of its student volunteers to the primaries in the different states. “We have our volunteers canvass the neighborhoods to get people out to vote, and they do a very good job. ” she says. “Also, we are planning visits to several campuses to get in contact with as many college-age students as we can. The Democrats aren't the only ones to utilize student volunteers. Republican candidate Robert Dole uses many student volunteers in his campaign. Chip Kunde, Dole’s special assistant to the director of coalitions, says Dole’s student volunteers do a number of things to help the campaign. “One thing our student volunteers do is help identify voting support on campuses so we know what areas to target. ” Kunde says. “They also organize mock elections and recruit other volunteers. ” It may seem that most of the candidates only place importance on college-aged students for help with campaigns, and have little interest in the problems those students are facing. Political science professor Norman Luttbeg says one reason may be that college-aged students don’t have as high a voting turnout as do other age groups. “For one thing, college students don’t have kids at home asking them why they didn’t vote, ” he says. “But the main reason given for the low voting percentage is that college students aren't as involved in the community as older voters, and so the issues don’t seem as important to many of them.” IMaybe you could care less about foreign relations and the federal budget, and therefore you don’t vote. Or rr aybe you just think public officials aren’t interested in what you have to say. Wrong. Members of the Legislative Study Group, an organization which represents Texas A&M in the Texas Legislature by lobbying for positions advocated by the Student Senate, say students may often be apathetic, but when students do get involved, public officials are eager to work with them. Mark Browning, a senior finance major and director of the group, says public officials are interested in the input of college-age students, expecially on the state and local level. “When we work with legistators in Austin, they seem really glad we are actually involved in the political process," he says. “Many students are apathetic, but most of the people I work with are activist, and are kind of the exception to the rule. “1 think legislators welcome the student vote because if they didn't, candidates wouldn't visit the campus, and so I think there is a strong interest in garnering what student vote there is.” Carolyn Foster, a senior economics major and administrative director of the group, agrees with Browning. “My expenence in working with legislators has been that they are fairly responsive to students,” Foster says. “They are interested in the problems we are facing. “Administrators most often ask our input on issues they think we come into contact with on a day-to-day basis. Issues like higher education, hazing, alcohol and drug awareness and even voting are some of the things they like to get our input on. " So. now you know what different officials think about your vote. It may not make any difference to you. and you will stay home and watch The Brady Bunch just like you do every Tuesday. Or you may already be planning to camp out at the polls Monday night to be the first one to cast your vote. Whatever your case. A&M is doing its part to encourage students to get out and vote. If you’ve been up to the MSC. you know that different candidates have set up tables, and they contain evreything you have ever wanted to know about their policies and political goals. And if the tables aren’t enough, different campus organizations have been working hard to get you informed. Stephen Buckeridge. a junior ocean engineering major Photo by Fred Joe Students involved in the political campaigns encourage students to vote for their candidate. * « • *.« «. « *' * * € « * > A, 4 A * * A l € * « i I i 4 t i t \ t i £ i £ 1 * I < -£ -C < -4 A. Page KAAt-j'h