Nader’s ‘Corporate Nader urges Pa. to respect people’s right to vote for candidate of choice By Sharon Furfaro Assistant Editor srfl7l @psu.edu One of the 20 Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo campaign vans visited Penn State Harrisburg on Oct. 12. The cam paign has been called “Corporate Crimebusters’ because of independent presi dential candidate Nader’s push for big corporations to be more responsible to the American pub lic and to stop determining poli- Logan D. Goolsby (L) and Dave Richardson ‘swept’ through campus on one of several van stops in the Northeast, supporting the Nader campaign. Kerry, Bush tackle issues for college students By Kelly Nagurny Assistant Editor kxnl63@psu.edu Since the 2004 race for presi dent of the United States began, both candidates’ campaign trails have crossed our commonwealth numerous times. As a “swing state,” or one that historically does not have a trend for consistently preferring one party over another, Pennsylvania has received much attention from both candidates in efforts to win the votes of residents, including college students. According to President Bush’s Pennsylvania campaign head quarters, he has made approxi mately 39 stops in the state dur ing his presi- dential cam paign. Information from Senator John Kerry’s Pennsylvania campaign head quarters shows that he has not visited the state as many times, but has never theless visited frequently. During his cam- paign for presi dent, Kerry has visited Pennsylvania 25 times, stop- ping in Philadelphia eight times and in Pittsburgh six times. What do all these numbers mean? They mean that both candidates want your vote and are willing work to get it. Young voters between the approximate ages of 18-30 could make or break the vote in many states, tics by dollar amount. Dave Richardson and Logan D. Goolsby of the Roving Van Team, also known as “Van 1,” traveled the Northeast promoting the Nader campaign and aware ness of the obstacles third party candidates encounter that the Republican or Democratic Party candidates do not. “Most people who would like to vote for Nader don’t, because it has been drilled into their heads by professors, parents, and the media that their votes are thrown away,” Goolsby said. “This is a self-referential fallacy. If only eighty percent of these individu als voted, Nader could actually including Pennsylvania, which contributes 21 electoral votes to the nation’s total of 538. However, between finishing class work and finding enough quarters in the couch to pay for gas this week, there is not always a lot of time for college students to take an in-depth look at each candidate. So what do Bush and Kerry have to offer young voters that is important enough to drop their books and bowls of ramen noo dles and rush out to vote? Both candidates have programs aimed at young voters that prom ise to improve their futures. Many of their proposed pro grams and initiatives focus on college tuition cost and loans. According to the Bush cam paign’s “Student for Bush” Web site, “This election is incredibly important for all of us - but partic ularly important for younger Photo by Thomas LeClair Photos courtesy of Yahoo Images Crimebuster’ van sweeps through PSH take the popular vote.” Richardson said that Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush are too alike on too many important issues. “They’re like cookie-cutter images on Iraq and corporate welfare,” he said. “It's to the place where I don’t want a Democrat or a Republican for myself or my grandkids." While Kerry and Bush do not stand for ending the occupation of Iraq, eliminating federal income tax for all Americans who make less than $50,000 a year, a living wage of at least $lO an hour, and ending corporate wel fare, Nader does. Nader also supports meeting 30 percent of U.S. electricity needs from renewables by 2020 and supply ing efficient health care for all Americans. Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate who fights to make America a better, safer place. He helped start the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He was instrumental in water pollution and auto-safety legislation (including seatbelts). Nader was also a major factor in passing the historic Freedom of Information Act, which allows greater disclosure of federal agencies’ records to the general public. Peter Camejo is a veteran civil rights fighter. He ran for Governor of California for the Green Party in 2002 and 2003. In order to qualify to be on the presidential ballot in Pennsylvania, a third party can- Americans Younger Americans are in the unique position to ben efit from the opportunities offered by this president’s positive and forward looking policies.” policies is an initiative to make college more afford able and to improve stu- dent loan pro grams. The initiative also seeks to “increase loan forgiveness for math, science and special edu cation teachers serving poor communities” and to “reduce News didate must submit over 25,000 valid signatures from registered voters, which is 10 times the number that the Republican or Democratic Party must submit. According to a CNN.com article, a state court removed Ralph Nader from Pennsylvania’s pres idential ballot on Oct. 13. The decision was a result of fraudu lent petition signatures including “Fred Flintstone” and “Mickey Mouse.” Commonwealth Court President Judge James Gardner Colins said that of the approxi mately 51,000 signatures sub mitted, fewer than 19,000 were valid. This was not enough - Nader needed at least 25,697 to be listed on the ballot. “Our petitioners have done a poor injustice to the people of this state,” Goolsby said. He explained that the petitioners were an independent group hired to collect and process the signa tures, and were not directly involved with the campaign. Pennsylvanians who support Nader may still choose a candi date who is excluded from the ballot by writing in the full names of all 21 electors who support the candidate’s ticket. Each name must be spelled correctly. Those who can only remember 20 names may not have their vote counted; the decision would rest with each County Board of Election, of which there are 67. The “Corporate Crimebusters” deliver this message to Pennsylvania: respect Pennsylvanians’ right to vote for the candidate of their choice. This includes posting the names of the 21 Nader/Camejo electors, interest rates for most borrow- Bush has also promised to increase Pell Grant funding by nearly $9OO million for low income students. In addition, he has proposed a plan that “pro vides record funding to assist colleges and universities with a large proportion of minority and disadvantaged students.” Kerry’s plans for the future also include many programs that tackle the issue of college tuition cost. Among those “This election is about you and your future, and the stakes have never been higher. It’s about your skyrocketing tuition and loans. It’s about your peers in Iraq who are risking their lives every day. It’s about protecting our environment for future gener ations,” stated Kerry’s “Young Voters for Kerry-Edwards” Web ‘Corporate Crimebuster’ Dave Richardson displays his candidate affiliation by wearing an eye-catching, revolu tionary political T-shirt. Richardson is part of the Roving Van Team, promoting awareness of third party candi date Ralph Nader. changing the write-in process to allow voters to simply write in the name of the candidate of their choice, and reduce the number of signatures for third party can didates to get on the ballot. According to the site, the cost of college has increased 35 percent over the last three years, causing 220,000 students to be “priced out” of college last year alone. To remedy this trend, Kerry, like Bush, has proposed a plan to make college more affordable. One way he plans to do this is to offer a “College Opportunity Tax credit on up to $4,000 of tuition for every year of college.” Additionally, he plans to offer more aid to individual states to lower the cost of tuition. A 2002 study by The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement shows that the participation of Americans under the age of 25 in elections has decreased since 1972. According to the study, between elections, “the decline., is between 13 and 15 percentage points.” In short, in the next presidential election, young voters are will be repre sented less than they were in the last election and even less than the one before that. Bush and Kerry shake hands following their presiden tial debate on October 13, 2004. The Capital Times Photo by Thomas LeClair For more information on the Nader/Camejo campaign, visit www.VoteNader.org, or contact Logan D. Goolsby at vanl votenader@yahoo.com Whether college tuition is important to you or not, it is important to take the time to examine all of the issues and positions of each candidate and decide what (and who) is right for you. Whether you agree with one of the candidates or hate them both, it is important to speak your mind by voting. On Nov. 2, vote for Bush, vote for Kerry, vote for you grandma. Just vote. For details on both candidates and their efforts aimed a young people, visit www.georgewbush.com and www.johnkerry.com. The next issue of the Capital Times will feature cover- age of presidential election results. Photo courtesy of www.abcnews.go.com
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