Look Out Washington
There have been enough articles, essays and speeches thus far on
how important it is for students to vote. And so, students have
registered. The New Voters Project has registered 308,145 new
voters. A poll on RamPoint shows 91.9 percent of the 761 students
who responded are registered as of Saturday. Inflatable donkeys and
massive blue Bush signs have taken over the Lory Student Center
Plaza. It would seem that “Generation Whatever” is poised to rock
the vote.
But our most critical test still lies ahead. It is one thing to
register, and another issue completely to vote – to set aside time
to educate ourselves on the issues, watch the debates, read the
blue books and then find that half-hour in our day to wait in line,
punch a few buttons or fill a few bubbles. It sounds so easy. But
for so many Americans, it is so difficult. And does one person’s
vote really count in a nation of 230 million?
Our entire electoral process is utilized through strength in
numbers. No one needs to realize this truth more than people in our
age group. We’re having a hard time because we don’t have the
numbers to get people to listen to us.
Three issues affect all of us:
Tuition
Tuition is on the rise. According to Losing Ground, a report
issued by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education “tuition at public four-year colleges and universities
represented 13 percent of income for the lowest-income families in
1980. In 2000, tuition at these colleges and universities equaled
25 percent of their income.”
We’ve seen even greater increases in the past four years. Just
last week the Board of Governors for the CSU System gave
preliminary approval for a 21 percent increase in tuition for
in-state students. This comes to about $265 more. Out-of-state
students could see an increase of 5 percent or $676.
Health Care
My fianc�e recently turned 22. While the change can be
depressing after the great birthdays of 16, 18 and 21, 22 turned
out to be another landmark. She lost the health insurance coverage
of her parents. So now she pays more than $600 for health care at
Hartshorn Health Service and $250 worth of prescription drug
coverage.
The United States is the only industrialized country without
universal health care. According to the National Center for Health
Statistics, 26.1 percent of adults ages 18 to 24 have no usual
source of health insurance. Those of us who do possess health care
aren’t getting it as a benefit through the full-time job at which
we’re not working.
Working Students
Those of us who don’t have scholarships and end up paying our
own way work really hard. Twenty hours a week at Starbucks or
McDonalds is not the general dream job. Then the government takes
what seems like a fourth out of each paycheck. Wouldn’t it be nice
if students working to pay for tuition and living expenses were
completely tax-exempt?
While a huge majority of us are registered, no one is going to
care unless we get to the voting booths on Nov. 2. If we don’t make
our voice heard this time around, it’ll be another four years
before anyone cares what we have to say.
Ben Bleckley is a junior English major. His column runs every
Monday in the Collegian.
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