2008 Woodie Awards
IN THE LOOP: Students shackled by voter apathy
Editorial Board
Issue date: 10/24/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
In 2004, Washington had one of the closest gubernatorial races in history. After two recounts, the second by hand, Democrat Christine Gregoire, came out on top by a meager 129 votes.
The scary part about this small number of votes is not that it was so close, but which population made this decision for governor. Across the United States, 72 percent of people 55 and older voted in 2004, while only 47 percent of people 18 to 24 years old cast a vote that year.
There are two major problems with this discrepancy. One: Because older people are the most reliable voters, they get what they want. They vote for things that will benefit them, so essentially the decision-making for the state and the country is in their hands. This leads to the second problem.
Secondly, since people in the college-aged demographic do not vote, politicians do not cater to their interests. This is problematic because older people are not necessarily in touch with issues such as the need for more education funding, so students are neglected. Last year on the federal level, the United States passed the "Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005." This act, widely ignored by young voters, locked federal educational loan interest rates at 6.8 for Stafford loans and 8.5 percent for Parent Plus loans. The interest rate had previously been 2.88 percent, an all-time low. If students had voted en-masse, this act would not have passed and educational loan rates would still be far lower than they are now.
So, now that you are a registered voter, go online and read about the four ballot measures for the state of Washington. Use your voting power and take charge of your life as a citizen of the United States of America.
The scary part about this small number of votes is not that it was so close, but which population made this decision for governor. Across the United States, 72 percent of people 55 and older voted in 2004, while only 47 percent of people 18 to 24 years old cast a vote that year.
There are two major problems with this discrepancy. One: Because older people are the most reliable voters, they get what they want. They vote for things that will benefit them, so essentially the decision-making for the state and the country is in their hands. This leads to the second problem.
Secondly, since people in the college-aged demographic do not vote, politicians do not cater to their interests. This is problematic because older people are not necessarily in touch with issues such as the need for more education funding, so students are neglected. Last year on the federal level, the United States passed the "Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005." This act, widely ignored by young voters, locked federal educational loan interest rates at 6.8 for Stafford loans and 8.5 percent for Parent Plus loans. The interest rate had previously been 2.88 percent, an all-time low. If students had voted en-masse, this act would not have passed and educational loan rates would still be far lower than they are now.
So, now that you are a registered voter, go online and read about the four ballot measures for the state of Washington. Use your voting power and take charge of your life as a citizen of the United States of America.
For this reason, The Whitworthian asks readers to be responsible and respectful in any comments posted. The responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not the whitworthian.com. Readers are also encouraged to report questionable comments by e-mailing editor@whitworthian.com.
Be the first to comment on this story