tion to more people, and make it easier for them to go to the polls. Generally, people felt that the present system is unfair because they are being penalized for simple forgetfulness. Students remember too late to get an absentee ballot, which doesn’t necessarily indicate lack of awareness and concern, just that students live very full lives.Students that I talked to said that they are too busy to follow politics. Many students have not only a full class and workload, but other commitments as well. Athletics, employment, relationships, family obligations, and other such things, fill any free time that students have. Balancing school and everything else doesn’t leave people with enough time to watch the news, read the newspaper, or listen to the radio. When young people have free time they are ten times more likely to go out then catch up on the world news. This point alone doesn’t indicate that they lack awareness; it is just that everyone needs some time to unwind. As a result of all this, students cannot make an educated choice of candidates at the polls. In January 2000 in the Iowa Pulse this point can be proven by the quote made by an 18-year-old college student, "It's boring. Most of it is stuff I don't think about or doesn't concern me," Ferguson, 18, said. "I try not to pay attention because it's just one more thing to bother or worry me” (http://www.iowapulse.com /iowapeople/dmacc19.shtml).If young people don’t take advantage of their right to vote and participate in the political process, the results could be long- lasting. Presently, the political process still gets done because older generations use their right to vote. As today’s young people get older and the older generations of today die off, the political process will stop working. If we leave the fate of America’s politics in the hands of young people of today, the results will be catastrophic. Unless the rising ge...
