| Dear Editor:
Your fellow classmates may not realize it, but they may have the power
to determine the results of this presidential election.
In the 2004 election, there are about a dozen states that pollsters have
declared „too close to call‰. The 537-vote margin of victory
in Florida in the 2000 election is evidence that every vote does count.
In 2004, the election may be determined by the 18-24 year old vote, the
group that traditionally has the lowest voter turnout in elections, but
also has the most at stake in the results of an election. And Colorado
may turn out to be the deciding state in this election.
My advice to your classmates is this. If you have not already done so,
register to vote, now. If you come from out of state (especially if it
is not a battleground state), make sure you register to vote using your
college address. By registering and voting in a battleground state, your
vote is actually more important than it would be at home. Your vote can
help sway all of the electoral votes of the state to one of the two candidates.
I plan to vote for Senator John Kerry and urge you to do likewise. I have
met Mr. Kerry a dozen times, and he is a thoughtful, intelligent man,
who deeply loves his country. There is no doubt that John Kerry, as president
will defend us from threats, both domestic and abroad, while defending
our rights as American citizens.
I am troubled by the war in Iraq, a war that we were told was begun because
of the clear and present danger that Iraq posed to us, because of their
possession of weapons of mass destruction and their ties to terrorist
organizations. We were even told that the US knew exactly where these
weapons were. Well, more than a year later, we have found no weapons of
mass destruction, nor have we found evidence of any links between Saddam
Hussein and Al-Qaeda. I am troubled by the corruption in our current administration,
in that it allows vice-president Dick Cheney to continue to make millions
of dollars in profit because his former company, Halliburton, receives
billions of dollars of no-bid contracts from the government. I am also
troubled, as I have seen George Bush and Dick Cheney dismantle much of
the environmental protection that both republicans and democrats have
constructed over the past fifty years. John Kerry, on the other hand,
has worked tirelessly for nearly 20 years to protect our air, water, and
natural resources. He knows that our economy, environment, and quality
of life cannot and should not be sacrificed for the sake of some corporate
polluter.
If you can find time in your schedules, I urge you to volunteer for the
Kerry-Edwards campaign. They are looking for anyone who can put in a few
hours here and there. If you can‚t volunteer, you can still make
sure that you vote. Don‚t let any papers or projects or tests get
in the way of your constitutional right to determine who will lead this
country. Remember, if only 538 more college students in Florida had voted
for Al Gore in 2000, there would be no Patriot Act, we would not have
the largest deficits in history, and we would not have lost nearly 1,000
men and women in a needless war in Iraq. This year, fewer than that could
make the difference in Colorado.
Sincerely,
Dan Bouvier
Boston College Œ86
Pittsfield, MA (413) 499-5961
New Web Site Is the First to Provide Voting Resources for Both
College Students and Educators
CollegeVote.org Encourages Campuses to Share Information about Voter Education
Washington, D.C.—August 31, 2004— CollegeVote.org is the first
Web site of its kind designed for both college students and their educators.
Intended for faculty, administrators, and students, CollegeVote.org is
a centralized clearinghouse of materials to help students gain a greater
understanding of, and appreciation for, the electoral process.
CollegeVote.org is unique among the existing Web sites dedicated to student
voting because it provides annotated links to models for campus programs
that encourage electoral participation, curricular resources that can
be used in the classroom, and the rationale for incorporating civic engagement
into the campus culture. It also provides information about voter registration
and absentee voting, including an online voter registration tool provided
through a partnership with Rock the Vote.
CollegeVote.org encourages campuses to share information about their voter
education efforts in order to motivate efforts at other colleges and universities.
The site features a pledge that allows individuals to demonstrate their
commitments to educate, register, and mobilize college student voters.
Perspectives on voting and political engagement from college students
are also available.
The educational community has responded enthusiastically to CollegeVote.org.
Susan Moran, a technical communication professor and program coordinator
at Columbus State Community College says, “The Website has terrific
information that we can use to help people understand the importance of
exercising their right to vote and the information is presented in a way
that should appeal to our students.” Students have also responded
positively, asking for information to hand out on campus, subscribing
to the mailing list, and providing resources to be added to the Web site.
The founders of CollegeVote.org are three graduate students who came together
around a shared vision – increasing the number of informed college
student voters by providing tools and information that can be used on
the campus both in and out of the classroom. "It is important for
college students to understand that a strong democracy is dependent upon
the informed participation of its citizens," said Noreen O'Connor,
one of the founders. "Through the CollegeVote project we want to
encourage democratic involvement, and help students learn to see themselves
as people who can have an impact upon the world."
For more information, visit www.CollegeVote.org
or e-mail kathygoodman@collegevote.org.
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