Friday, November 1, 1996
PROFILE:
Students involved in grass-roots campaigns educate peers, help
‘get the vote out’By Julie Brighton
Daily Bruin Contributor
Amid the confusion many students face in voting in this year’s
local and presidential races, more than a few Bruins have gone
beyond their civic duties to make a difference in the campaigns.
Their motivations for becoming involved are varied but on campus,
major emphasis is placed on "getting out the vote."
As polls anticipate fewer participants each consecutive
election, grass-roots attempts to register and educate voters are
top priorities for Democrats and Republicans alike.
Fourth-year political science student and Bruin Democrats member
Darrin Hurwitz explained that the main focus of his group’s
activities has been encouraging students to vote by running a
campus registration campaign, walking precincts and telephone
banking.
Hurwitz estimates that Bruin Democrats have registered over
1,000 voters already as part of the "California Coordinated
Campaign," of which Hurwitz is political outreach director.
"We want to educate students on the issues that are going to
affect them," Hurwitz said. "By becoming involved with the
campaign, college students can work pro-actively to elect
candidates that represent issues of importance to younger voters,
especially education."
Hurwitz himself became involved with politics in the 1994
elections while working on the Kathleen Brown campaign, but he
feels that the 1996 race is exciting because "this year, UCLA
students are excited about the issues and the candidates, and it is
an exhilarating experience to educate students on issues that
affect them …"
"In the past," Hurwitz added, "politicians have ignored younger
voters because they didn’t see them as a powerful constituency.
When we get involved in the process, however, we send a powerful
message that we are willing to do more than simply complain."
Patrick Strader, also a third-year political science student,
became involved with the Dole campaign last winter while interning
for California Gov. Pete Wilson in Washington, D.C. Chosen to
accompany the Dole entourage to the Charleston, S.C. primary,
Strader found that in addition to Southern hospitality, the "people
were very surprised that young people were motivated to get out and
campaign."
"I was surprised to find that the issues that seemed so
important in D.C. weren’t necessarily important to voters in small
Southern towns," Strader said, recalling his shock when he learned
that the poll in the town of Elgin, S.C. expected between 20 and 30
residents to vote. The big issue? Rapid growth of the town was
causing stress to the septic system and residents feared having to
invest in new indoor plumbing.
Sophomore political science student Sameer Acharya also got
behind the scenes this summer as an intern at Clinton/Gore national
headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"I was most surprised by the level of work done by interns,"
said Acharya. "We did some grunt work but also got some hands-on
experience with tasks from creating press memos to research to
helping create position papers."
Although considering a return to D.C., Acharya plans to work in
policy and government rather than in politics.
Bruin Republicans have employed similar efforts, setting up camp
on Bruin Walk to educate and encourage student voters.
In addition to helping coordinate these activities, third-year
political science student Jason Steele also spends "pretty much
every free minute" working at the Dole/Kemp headquarters in Burbank
as the Los Angeles County youth coordinator.
Steele appeared to sum of the feeling of all students when he
explained his reasons for volunteering.
"You get the feeling that what you do matters and that is a
powerful motivator for continued involvement," Steele said.