The Triangle

Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Ashley Peskoe Banners have been rehung around campus to raise awareness for the "Drexel Votes 2008" intiative, which seeks to engage students in the election process.

Over the past couple of weeks, the "Debate at Drexel" banners have returned to the poles around campus, leaving some students wondering if the University is having trouble moving on from the excitement (and great press) of the Oct. 30, 2007 democratic presidential primary debate. In fact, the banners now have new meaning: The pivotal Pennsylvania presidential primary is April 22, so get informed and get active.

Holding the debate at Drexel must mean more to us than having a Dragon in every shot of Chris Matthews. The debate was the kickoff of a much-needed effort to prove we can be leaders in civic action. The debate generated a never before seen campus energy; however it is time to follow up the hype with action.

The follow up is the "Drexel Votes 2008" initiative. Drexel Votes has been tasked with giving students the means to make informed political decisions, and getting helping them through the sometimes-confusing voter registration process. This initiative is being led by student ideas and generously supported by the University administration.

With that in mind, a small group of motivated students and administrators can't do it all. This is an election; it's a numbers game where every vote counts in forming a larger force to move the nation. Consider this: Drexel has 12,906 undergraduates, if we all registered, that means 12,906 reasons for candidates to notice us Dragons. Nationally, 18 to 30-year-olds make up 24 percent of total eligible voters, according to the Youth Voting Coalition.

See the power we have? The politicians do.

Today's politics are more than the smoke-filled room of old white men debating issues far from campuses. Look at the world today - whatever your politics, no one can argue that today's issues are uniquely ours.

Did you know the cost of our textbooks is actually being talked about on Capital Hill? Don't care about textbook prices? What about the quality of the air we all breathe? The war in Iraq is another obvious issue and it is unimaginable that any of us could not have a thought on that. We don't need a draft to care about the war. On Drexel's campus we have ROTC, more and more we all know someone who is serving our nation. The reason to cast a vote has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats - it's the hundreds of dollars we are shelling out each term for textbooks, it's about needing a job, and it's about your best friend who is leaving Philadelphia for Fallujah.

Continued...

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