6 1 TUESDAY, SEPT. 9, 2008
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Collegian
Terry Casey
Editor in Chief
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Students have an obligation to vote
Just register to vote,
dammit.
Look, we know those voter
registration people are really
annoying. If you haven't had at
least dozen people push forms
in you face over the past week,
you probably haven't gone out
side.
But think of how much easi
er it would be to just say, "yes,
I'm registered" than to have to
make up a silly excuse each
time.
The deadline is to register is
Oct. 6. All you have to do is fill
out a simple form. They'll
deliver for you. You can even
fill out the form online at psu
vote.org and drop it off later if
you don't have time to do it on
your walk to class.
And if you really hate those
voter registration people, get
all your friends to register too.
Because if the whole campus
is registered, they won't have a
job left to do and maybe they'll
go away.
Seriously, though: You need
Voting machine switch long overdue
By Leslie Small
THIS SWUM
MER, HILE
MOST OF
you weren't look
ing, the county
decided to
change the way
we vote!.
Following
increased com
munity pressure
and concern
about its touch
screen systems,
Centre County officials chose to
switch them in favor of optical scan
machines which leave an all
important paper trail.
I'd applaud our leaders for their
more sensible choice, but it's a deci
sion they should !mire made two
years ago.
Flash back to 2006.
Under pressure from the Help
America Vote Act to revamp its old
system, the county weighed two
options: fancy, electronic touch
screen systems, or the more reliable
optical scan.
Predictably, the county went for the
touch screens and eschewed democ
racy in favor of design. Fifty-four per
cent of voters supported the touch
screens, though more informed citi
zens showed up to lobby for optical
scan machines when the final vote
went through.
I first used the system when I
voted in the 2006 midterm elections. I
suppose my vote was counted, but
unless I track down that machine and
VOTER REGISTRATION
to register. And if you're
already registered, you need to
vote. You owe it to yourself,
and you owe it to your fellow
students.
You'll hear a lot of talk about
how this is an important elec
tion, and it is. But for students,
every election should be
important, because each one is
an opportunity to show politi
cians that we matter.
And if there's one truth in
elections, it's that politicians
care about one demographic
above all others: voters.
Consider the numbers:
According to the Center for
Information & Research on
Civic Learning and Engage
ment, just 36 percent of people
18-24 years old voted in the
2000 presidential election.
Among people over 25, 63 per
cent voted.
Or how about this: "Only 8
percent of the party chairs
identified young people as the
most important demographic
for the long-term success of
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deconstruct its hard drive, I'll never
be sure.
To be fair, few problems were
recorded countywide during that his
toric election. As I wrote a news story
about the machines' performance as
a young reporter, I felt myself heave a
sigh of relief.
But across the state, other voters
reported problems whose origin
could've been the machines or the
operators' fault. In Lebanon and Lan
caster counties, polling hours were
extended until 9 p.m. after voters had
to switch to paper ballots because of
programming errors with the new
machines. In neighboring Rush and
Spring townships, some voters
MY OPINION
reported the machines recording the
opposite of who they chose for gover
nor.
Certainly the touch screens were
more effective than Florida's famous
butterfly ballots, but what if some
thing had gone more seriously wrong
in 2006? With no original paper ballots
to hold up to the light, we could be
looking at another election decided by
the Supreme Court this November.
Computers are a wonderful inven
tion, but they aren't infallible.
Hacking, sabotage, straight-up mal
function take your pick Each is a
reason to have a back-up plan in
place.
When a new set of county commis
sioners finally decided to scrap our
two-year-old system for a new one,
they said their decision was partly
influenced by the soaring costs of the
touch-screen systems. Not that I'm
one to complain about the machine
switch, but after two years of
their party,' compared to 21
percent who named senior citi
zens."
Why else do you think politi
cians talk endlessly about
social security and are willing
to run billion-dollar deficits
effectively passing the bill onto
us to avoid cutting benefits
or raising taxes?
It's not because Mr. Wash
ington has a soft spot in his
heart for grandmas. It's
because grandmas, as a group,
are statistically a heck of a lot
more likely to vote than you
are. The best way to get politi
cians to care about issues that
matter to us isn't by protesting
on Old Main lawn. It's not by
complaining to your friends.
It's by filling out that form and
showing up at the polling place
on Election Day.
So just do it. Even if you
don't care yourself, do it for
the rest of us. Because every
student who skips out on Nov.
4 is just one more excuse for
politiciatis to write us off.
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protests, is money the final tipping
point?
If money's really an issue, the
county could've saved hundreds of
thousands by just using the optical
scan machines in the first place.
Instead, we're looking at a brand-new
system coming in unfamiliar to
both voters and poll workers just
in time for an incredibly important
election.
Unfortunately, partisan politics also
seem to have played a role in the
whether we got truly reliable
machines. Only when Democrats Jon
Eich and Rich Rogers were elected,
erasing the Republican majority, did
forums actually take place to discuss
the issue of getting new machines.
I don't care if your political affilia
tion is blue, red or purple making
sure votes count should be an issue
we can all agree upon. What Steve
Dershem and Chris Exarchos, the
Republican commissioners that ush
ered in the touch-screen machines,
were thinking in 2006, I'll never know.
But I'm guessing it had more to do
with a childlike fascination with tech
nology than anything else.
This November, I'll stride out of my
voting precinct with a paper ballot in
hand, thanking my lucky stars this
county finally got some sense.
Next time, join me in holding our
local leaders to task for decisions that
threaten democracy. After all, this
isn't Palm Beach.
Leslie Small is a senior majoring in journal
ism and political science. She is The Daily
Collegian's Tuesday columnist. Her e-mail
address is Icsso2o@psu.edu.
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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
LETTERS
Penn Staters should look
at who the real 'brats' are
Poverty-stricken children throw stones at
a bus of visiting Americans. One American
asks the kids how they could do such a
thing and walks away thinking of them as
brats. Such was the scenario presented in
the article, "Students learn from Middle
East experience" (Sept. 3).
Imagine an alternate dimension where
instead of the pompous American lecturing
the starving third-world child on maturity,
the child went to a well-educated upwardly
mobile American at one of the country's
leading universities. "Where are the rest of
you?" he would ask "Where are the other
40,000 of you and why aren't you doing any
thing to alleviate our condition?" If our stu
dent responded honestly, would he not
admit that, if it were a weekend night, most
Penn State students would be out getting
drunk? And that the following Monday, they
would walk into Hass hung-over, thinking
that wearing an "Obama for President"
sticker meant that they were making the
world a better place. If our hypothetical
Palestinian child knew the extent of the sit
uation, would he not be the one lamenting
to his friends about the bus full of "brats"
who had made an attraction out of their
war-torn homeland?
Living our sheltered upper middle-class
lives, it easy to judge the rest of the world.
Perhaps if we looked in the mirror, we
might realize that maybe we're the brats.
Problems with liquor laws
highlighted at tailgates
While visiting a friend's tailgate, a gentle
man was at nearby tailgates asking for
identification from anyone with a beer in
hand. 'Avo females, who were not being dis
ruptive, were unable to produce identifica
tion. The gentleman, identified as an officer
of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of
Liquor Control Enforcement, searched a
handheld database for their names and
cited the females for underage drinking
After citing them, the officer told them that
they should plead guilty and enroll in the
Youth Offenders Program, versus exercis
ing their tights to a hearing before a magis
trate, for the program would be unavailable
if sentenced by a judge.
This is an example of why liquor laws
must be reformed. The females were not
disturbing anyone, nor were they a danger
to themselves. Instead of preventing serious
property and personal crimes, the officers
were tasked with enforcing a law that is not
effective and causes more alcohol consump
tion. Thus, I would encourage students to
join in the national discussion on the drink
ing age and to encourage Penn State to join
with fellow Big Ten member Ohio State and
support the Amethyst Initiative.
Alex Weller
President, College Libertarians
Take alma mater to heart,
lead our school with pride
"May no act of ours bring shame." This
line from our alma mater has been geared
towards the students of Penn State, or even
more namely, the fans, over the past few
years. But after yet another incident dealing
with players on our football team, I think it's
time for them to take a good, hard look at
the fourth verse of the alma mater. It should
be an honor to play for such a prestigious
football team and such a prestigious and
caring coach. These young men do not take
such things seriously, and have made us
look like the Miami University of the 1980 s,
and one word described them: thugs. The
next time the players walk into the locker
room, this quote should be put up on their
lockers and every other prominent place
possible, just to remind them of the coach,
the team, and most importantly, the school
that they are representing.
Race an issue in election
regardless of platforms
This letter is in response to Curtis Reink
ing's letter, "People don't separate race
from the issues" (Sept 5.). He brings Alyssa
Owens under scrutiny for addressing race
as in issue that should be avoided in the
upcoming elections. Race is a serious issue.
Not just in the elections, but as an everyday
intolerance. I have heard too many people
say that America isn't ready for a black
president. But why not? Is he not a man?
Does he not want to reform the country
from the last eight years of disastrous deci
sions from an inept president? If Mr. Obama
stood on those platforms and provided the
hope that we can take back our once-pros
perous economy, stable housing market,
countless other liberties and look forward to
the rebirth of the American dream as a cau
casian man, would we still be debating his
credentials? If any man is for this, then how
can we be against him?
Collegian: Foolbkg
The football writers break down the
action from the Oregon State game at
their postgame picnic, and Penn State
jumps to No. 17 in the AP polls.
Read the Collegian: Footblog blog at www.psu
colleglan.com under the "Blogs" heading.
Hamdam Yousuf
Class of 2007
Dan Vacsllk)
sophomore-meterology
Elizabeth Olatunp
Class of 2006