PSH fails to promote Gekas-Holden debate at CUB By Peter Strella Assistant Layout Editor Did you know that both candidates for Pennsylvania’s Congressional District, George Gekas and Tim Holden, had a debate at the CUB on Oct. 29? I sure didn’t. Did you know that all of the Democratic candidates for governor, including gover nor-elect Ed Rendell, debated before the primary elections at the CUB on Apr. 22? I didn’t, but then again I didn’t go here at the time. However, it says a lot that our SGA President didn’t know. If members of the SGA and Capital Times didn’t know of these campus events, I find it hard to believe too many Penn State Harrisburg students knew about them. The PSH community dropped the ball by not promoting these events well enough. Students should have seen the names of Gekas and Holden every where they looked. Oct. 29 should have been drilled into our heads like the due date for our latest term paper. Students should have known these politicians were here even if we had no interest in attending. There is a solution that needs to be in place by the 2004 elections: promotion, promotion, and more promotion. For example, the SGA brought in In My Opinion the League of Women’s Voters to register students to vote. It was an excellent idea, but no one knew about it. The turnout was low and the event did not have as much success as it could have. The need for promotion is evident in the responses we recieved through the Capital Times vot ing survey. I’ll be the first to tell people that it was flawed because it only consisted of 33 people. However the survey responses, as to why or why not they didn’t vote, were legitimate. Many people are fed up with government or don’t agree with any of the candidates. There is little we can do to get these people to vote. But we can help unregistered students by telling them when they can register here on campus. We can tell students who think they’re uninformed that candidates are debating at PSH. For those who say they have no time to vote or are registered in dis tant precincts, we can set up tables to teach students how to fill out absentee ballots. We have to organize the events and promote them well. Good promotion will get more students involved. And when I say we, I mean the Capital Times, SGA, student clubs, the Dean’s office, the pub lic relations department, and anyone else who wants to help. We all can help promote. Some students make the argument that 18 to 24-year-olds have no reason to vote. This argument is wrong unless you enjoy paying almost $l,OOO more per year to go school here. If Penn State would have pulled its resources together and protested, the increase may not have been as much. Politicians know students don’t vote or protest so they feel less heat when it comes to issues that directly affect us. Politicians are quick to cut funding for education because we don’t complain to them enough. “The PSH community dropped the ball by not promoting these events well enough. Students should have seen the names of Gekas and Holden everywhere they looked. Oct. 29 should have been drilled into our heads like the due date for our latest term paper.’’ When a politician speaks at any given func tion, he or she doesn’t see too many college students there. However, senior citizens come out in droves to speak out. So who are the politicians more likely to listen to? If you don’t vote or involve yourself in poli tics because you think you’re inconsequential, the politicians are getting the best of you. They don’t want you to vote or get involved. It makes it easier on them. If they cut funding to indirectly raise your tuition and you say nothing about it, they won’t hesi tate to do it again.
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