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.