"Heaven, Hell and Elections"

Today marks the start of the SA Senate elections. And with that spicy opening line, already at least 50 people who otherwise might have read my column have just stopped reading and flipped to see if that crazy Jim Byrne character has anything funny to say today.

Today also marks the day when people will stream by the voting booths on campus, not vote and then complain for the rest of the year that student governments don't care about them.

Now, here's my opinion on why both things - people putting down my column and people choosing not to vote - occur. Get ready for it. Here it comes: Kids think politics are boring.

I know, clearly I've unlocked the hidden mysteries of the ages. But look at how politics are portrayed on television, which is, you know, how most college kids these days experience the real world. By virtue of my job, I have to be at least a little interested in politics, but I wouldn't watch C-Span for more than 4 minutes unless there was a gun pointed at my head. It's boring.

Now, we've got a lot of boring things here at UB. World Civ, for example. That one just sounds like a nap waiting to happen. Same thing with American Pluralism - It's all very C-Span to me. You know what's not boring? The History of Rock Music. That one sounds awesome. Heaven, Hell and Judgment is traditionally one of the most popular classes at UB, too. I would take that one too, come to think of it. The title actually has a curse word in it. Would as many people take it if it were titled "Texts Dealing with Religion"? Heaven, Hell and Judgment no.

I think it's all in the way you present things. The powers that be tried "Rock the Vote," and that worked during the 1992 presidential campaign. So why don't we try something like that here? I am sure that the governments could challenge "U to B involved" or something equally as corny yet catchy.

Last year only 1,006 students turned out to vote for their senators, and a resounding 1,779 voted in the executive board elections the following semester. Even with the larger voter turnout, that's still only 10 percent of the student body population.

The national numbers are even more staggering. According to the Federal Election Commission, young people from the ages of 18 to 24 encompass 22,993,000 of our nation's population. Of them, only 43.6 percent - less than half - are registered voters.

But of the registered voters, only 4,251,000 - 18.5 percent of them - voted in the 1998 Congressional election. We certainly rocked that vote, gobbling up an enormous 5.1 percent of the total nationwide turnout.

This year, I bet there will be under 1,000 students who show up for the elections. That may be pessimistic, but we'll see. Prove me wrong, UB. If I had any money, I'd give you 2-1 odds.

What kills me are the things that students got riled up about consistently last year and already this year - SA E-board members getting their tuitions waived, withdrawing funding for the Linda Yalem Run and "reducing allocation" (i.e. pulling funding) from Sub-Board - all had to do with politics, if not the Senate specifically.

This isn't another whine-at-the-readers-until-they-vote column, although you should vote; it's important. This is, however, a what's-it-going-to-take-to-prove-everyone-is-wrong-about-you column. Your voices aren't heard nationally because we traditionally have the worst voter turnout.

So what do the media, politicians, and campus organizations have to do to get you involved?

Some say better advertisements will do the trick. Others say that on-campus debates between candidates will draw people to the polls. Everything short of boxing matches between the candidates has been proposed.

Personally, I think the "Rock the Vote" school of thought has a point in that if you make it fun, students will come. Throw a party in World Civ, and I'm there. And maybe that's the key. If we can turn C-Span into Heaven, Hell and Judgment - some might argue it already is - we might have a shot. Until that time, you've still got those 2-1 odds.