Editorial: UMaine students take charge in election year

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In the midst of a largely politically apathetic generation, many students and student organizations at the University of Maine have stepped up to bring informative programs to campus.

UM College Democrats and Republicans have set up tables in the Memorial Union offering free merchandise, information on candidates and voter registration cards. Student political groups set partisan differences aside for the fourth annual Rock the Vote on Oct. 16 to register students and inform them about political issues. PowerVote, a youth group of green activists, sponsored a live Web cast with Al Gore in the Bangor Room this Wednesday. Additionally, the Obama Campus Coalition for Change sponsored a visit from Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, who came to 100 DPC Wednesday to discuss the importance of early voting.

Gus Burkette, who helped organize early voting on campus, reported approximately 1,000 people turned out to vote in the FFA Room on Oct. 23, in comparison to an over-all turnout of 1,200 UMaine student votes in the 2004 presidential election.

The Maine Campus commends this tremendous student effort. In a time when what is considered to be the most politically apathetic generation in American history is coming of age, it’s gratifying to see taking serious interest in the political process.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.