ASG president moves students to vote
According to Building Votes, in a 2004 nation-wide survey, 49 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 voted. Clearly, half of the population under the age 30 is underrepresented. Jay Sabin, Mt. Hood Community College Associated Student Government (ASG) president, is on a mission to inspire more students on campus to register to vote. When asked what motivates a young person to vote, Sabin said, “To have their voice be heard.” Sabin first registered to vote when he was 18. Like others, his first vote was cast during a presidential election. Sabin was serving in the U.S. Navy in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. His disappointment with the Florida Bush campaign was a reason that he didn’t vote in the years that followed. However, the more he learned about political science, the more he became acquainted with the voting process. Sabin said, “By definition straight up: democracy is where everyone votes where you don’t have representation to vote for you, which is what the Electoral College does.” This knowledge is what got Sabin into wanting to vote. However, once he got back into school, he found out people barely even voted for their ASG representation. That got Sabin thinking. “People aren’t going to vote if they don’t know what the issues are,” he said. Bills and ballot measures, and things like that, are written in a language that the average American citizen doesn’t understand. The Patriot Act for example, is filled with confusing language including the definition of a terrorist, he said. Current issues student should be concerned about include funding and tuition, financial aid, child care, health care, and welfare — all good reasons to vote. Student aid policies and economic conditions that create better jobs for youth are meant to be the fuel that light fires in youth; however, it’s not, according to one Oregonian headline Oct. 2, in an article entitled, “Under 30, underrepresented.” Sadly “they’re [the youth of our nation] checking out. They’ve got internet, they’ve got television, they can think they’re active, but they’re not.” Yet, the article points out that young Oregonians repeatedly beat the national average for voting. Sabin’s former involvement with student government included working with the Oregon Bus Project (OBP) that came to the college last spring to help students register to vote; 36 signed up. “There were tons of people. I was a senator at the time and was out there all the time and I ended up signing up six to seven people to vote,” he said. Other organizations that the ASG is working with include the Oregon Student’s Association (OSA). The OSA started in the 1970 with the mission to give student a voice and create resolutions to student concerns. Two years ago they registered roughly 33,000 students. The OSA was an advocate of the Oregon Opportunity Grant for students on financial aid. It used to only aid 70 percent that qualified. However, since 2004, 100 percent are eligible for the grant due to the OSA’s involvement, said Sabin. Yet, according to The Oregonian, there is unused aid since not everybody knows about it. Students can register to vote by filling out a small form, says Sabin. It takes about five seconds. Being a U.S. citizen, and at least 18-years-old, are the only requirements. The forms are available online at www.oregonvotes.com and at the campus student services center. Other places include county election offices, many banks, post offices, and the department of motor vehicles (DMV). The deadline to register for first time voters is Oct. 17. Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 20. Election Day is Nov. 7. For more information, or to get involved in student government voting, check out www.orstudents.org.
|
