They are also working within the Holy Cross campus community to raise political awareness and educate the student body on the importance of voting. A debate between the Holy Cross Young Democrats and the Holy Cross Young Republicans is scheduled for a week before Election Day in November. Both organizations hope that the debate will result in a larger percentage of the student body voting.

"Educating students so that they understand our political system and the parties within it is so important and we are trying to do our part," says Young Democrat Co-Chair Shelley Venus. "Elected officials will be making policies and decisions that will affect our generation for the rest of our lives, about the environment, the economy, Social Security."

In a more concentrated effort, members of the Young Democrats sacrificed their four-day Fall Break to a project titled "Project Dorm Storm." Hoping to register more of their peers to vote, the Young Democrats went door-to-door in underclassmen residence halls in an effort to recruit voters. "Many students at Holy Cross tend to characterize politics as something their parents are interested in. Our club's basis is to educate the student body on what impacts politics actually do have on college students," says Venus.

Members of the Young Democrats have other things in the works this semester such as a brunch with Jim McGovern and John Kerry.

Colorado College political science professor Robert Loevy gives some historical background:  We created our campaign internship course in 1970 at the time of the Nixon bombings of Cambodia, thus giving students on both sides of the issue (most were on the anti-Nixon side) the chance to spend an entire block (at that time, 1/36th of their college career) working in a partisan election. The course, "Political Campaigning," was instantly popular and drew many students.

The course peaked two years later in 1972, when more than 200 CC students worked for a full block (one month) in the McGovern campaign for President opposing the Vietnam War. That was the high spot of the course over the 30 years we have taught it. Note that was more than 10 percent of the student body (about 1,600 students at that time) engaged full time in political campaigning the month before election day. There was another but lesser surge of student interest in 1980, caused mainly by Republican students taking the course to work for Ronald Reagan (and a number worked for Jimmy Carter as well).

I always found the course to be a pretty good barometer of the extent to which election campaigns were attracting students. But we have never had the kind of interest we had in 1970 and 1972."

You can reach Loevy in his office at 719/389-6584, or you can email him at bloevy@ColoradoCollege.edu. 

Professor Andrew Dunham says:  "There are three or four students getting credit for "Political Campaigning," including two who worked over the summer. In addition, there is one paid part-time staffer on the Marino campaign, and several students who are working with a campaign but getting neither pay nor college credit. By contrast, in the 1992 election cycle there were closer to 30 students enrolled in "Political Campaigning" (I didn't teach it in 2000, and 1996 had low interest).

More generally, in keeping with the professionalization of campaigns (growth of PR, consultant, and media-driven campaigns rather than grass roots and door to door), volunteers are just not as important as they used to be. Campaigns increasingly use hired help to get signatures to get on the ballot, to register people, etc. Although everyone still gives lip service to the importance of grass roots, campaigns tend to be more focused on media market niches ("Friends" vs "West Wing") rather than on precincts."

Dunham was a Congressional Fellow in 1983-84, where he served as legislative assistant to Senator Max Baucus and Health Advisor to Senator Gary Hart. He organized the "Public Policy" section for the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in 1993-94 and served from 1983 to 1993 on the editorial board of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. You can reach Dunham at adunham@ColoradoCollege.edu or 719/389-6587.

Both the Democrats and Republicans on campus were working on registering Colorado students to vote in Colorado Springs to help in the Allard/Strickland race and in some of the hot local state legislative races. Student Joe Peters, who works with the Republican student group says, "Since it is unlawful for out-of-state students to vote in Colorado without changing their legal residency, we don't have the campus voter registration drives you see in most other states. We generally use the campus more as a source of volunteers. I am taking both 2nd and 3rd block off to work on the Allard campaign and some crucial local races. I'm a paid staffer. I know that the Democrats also have at least one paid staffer from CC."

The College Democrats group is working on campaigns for Rick Carne, who is running for 3rd Congressional district; Tom Roberts for State Senate, and Tim Hagan for Governor.

Kate Evans is president of the College Democrats and can be reached at (h) 937/627-8244. Her e-mail address is catherine.evans@notes.udayton.edu.

This fall, Martinez and about a dozen student volunteers canvassed student residence halls, staffed information tables, and spoke at a number of orientation sessions about the importance of registering to vote. This year -- an "off" election year -- they registered approximately 300 new voters.  A founding member and president of the student-activist club Turn Left, and a vigorous political campaigner since his sophomore year, Martinez has devoted himself to increasing Skidmore student voter registration and turnout for the past three years. Toward this end, he has organized pre-election candidates' nights as well as voter registration drives to ensure that Saratoga Springs' newest election district - the Skidmore campus - has a powerful impact.

That impact was most dramatic in the fall of 2001, when the election for all five members of the Saratoga Springs City Council was held. Skidmore student voices were most widely heard in the race for Commissioner of the Department of Public Works, where the Democratic incumbent was returned to office by margin of less than 300 votes. He received nearly all of the 579 votes cast by students in Saratoga Election District 24, which is the Skidmore campus.

The new City Council (3 Republicans, 2 Democrats) took office in January and in the late spring, voted along party lines to realign the "Skidmore" district, which would have removed the voting booth from campus. Despite pleas from nearly 40 students attending a City Council meeting (during final exam week) when the Council had the election districts on its agenda -- and despite concerns expressed by the local League of Women Voters and a number of city residents to leave the district as it is -- the Council did vote to realign the election district and remove the campus voting booth. The only reason that the booth remains on campus for the upcoming election is that the City Council filed its district changes too late to be effective for 2002 election.

Martinez says he uses this information in encouraging students to register to vote in their campus community. "In many places, votes of a small number of students wouldn't have a big effect," he points out. "I tell them that by voting in Saratoga Springs, their votes will actually count on election day," he says.

"The students engaged are well-informed and very enthusiastic. We have freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors working hard where they can. On election day, the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Committee will be enlisting the help of several students to help in the surrounding area."

Despite the fact that student involvement in 2002 political campaigns does not mirror the heyday of student activism, student engagement in other areas has actually skyrocketed, pointed out Ursinus President John Strassburger. "When I was at Princeton in the 1960s, the fall was the time to facilitate participation in political campaigns, get out the vote, and work for candidates. Maybe it's not like the 1960s and 1970s, but it's not fair to charge students today with not being involved. The involvement has changed. Students have chosen to devote their time to thoughtful projects such as tutoring in low-income neighborhoods (America Reads), working with disabled adults (Best Buddies) and doing home repair in Appalachia (Alternative Spring Break.) We have more graduates than ever in the Harvard Divinity School because of their interest in faith-based outreach, and more students doing community service than I can remember. It's just a different way of tackling social issues than canvassing for candidates."

The Rev. Charles Rice, campus chaplain who oversees community service at Ursinus, added that students are engaged in more "sustainable" pursuits throughout the year. He noted that some 40 students are involved in both the Best Buddies program (the Ursinus chapter won a state award) and America Reads.

For other examples of campus activity, contact Nick Longo at Campus Compact. E-mail: nlongo@compact.org. 

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