Let's take a break from national politics. I would like to delve into something a little closer to home: the so−called student activism at Tufts.
Over the last few weeks, I have been involved with the Tufts Democrats' effort to register as many students as possible to vote in this year's Nov. 2 elections. You may have seen us sitting at tables in Dewick−MacPhie Dining Hall, Carmichael Dining Hall and the Mayer Campus Center, signing up people to register to vote in Massachusetts' hotly contested elections. You may have been visited by our canvassers who went door to door in Carmichael Hall registering students.
Aside from registering voters, we have been educating people on the issues and candidates of this state, as well as informing them on how to vote in their home states, if they so choose. Through these efforts, the Tufts Students for Deval Patrick have registered over 267 Tufts students to vote in this election, most of whom will vote in Massachusetts.
These achievements are impressive, and hard−working volunteers and receptive student targets have made them possible. Yet amid the successes, there have also been failures, which can be attributed to students' lack of interest in the elections.
One student in Carmichael Hall slammed his door in our faces after he exclaimed he was "apathetic" to everything we were talking about and could not be bothered by us pests. The hundreds of students that we registered are somewhat overshadowed by the hundreds more who simply ignored our requests or those who quickly walked away at the mention of the word "vote."
Why is it that at a university supposedly brimming with student activism, whose vision statement includes the words, "active citizen participation is essential to freedom and democracy," so many are reluctant to engage in practices so often associated with these themes? Wouldn't someone like CJ Saraceno, who writes notably satirical pieces on Tufts' many contradictions and shortcomings, agree that the Tufts student body is all but saturated in student activism?
Perhaps Tufts' stated "global orientation" has led many to overlook the importance of issues at home. The problem of student "apathy" may also stem from a general disillusionment with the political system. Both of these notions must be amended. The elections coming up this year will unquestionably have countless effects on us students here. To name a few: sales tax adjustments, availability of student loans, community improvement initiatives and many more. I don't quite understand why so many people have shown such little interest in current politics.
These issues will affect all of us, so we should at least pay attention. This is not to say that the aforementioned voter registration accomplishments are for naught; however, there is much work to be done. Raising awareness is just the first step, albeit a crucial one. But as long as a large proportion of students remain unreceptive, there is little that can be done in this regard.
Yet it looks as though students are not the only ones lacking excitement in elections. Nationally, the trend of low voter turnout is a troubling one. Over the last three general elections, we have seen modest gains in the percentage of the voting−age population turning out to vote. In 2008, one of the most exciting years politics has witnessed, little more than half of the voting−age population turned out to vote. With 56.9 percent voting, our democracy certainly is not operating at full strength. Being apathetic to a system that has the potential to influence many aspects of one's life is not a character trait I would flaunt. On the contrary, it would be most advantageous to take action and impose an influence on the system itself.
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Joshua Youner is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Joshua.Youner@tufts.edu.
