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March 12, 2004Student indifference to politics is reversing
Sixty percent of U.S. college freshmen in 1966 thought it was important to stay informed about politics. Interest plummeted to a low of 28 percent in 2000. That year at Iowa State, 21 percent of ISU freshmen said being informed about politics was important. That's according to a national survey of university freshmen in which Iowa State participates. The survey is conducted by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Last fall, 29 percent of incoming ISU freshmen said it was essential or very important to keep up to date with political affairs -- an 8 percent increase in three years. That parallels a national trend. But a change in attitude may not mean a change in behavior. No one on campus measures changes in political involvement, but faculty and staff do describe new student activities and the impact of being in the spotlight during the January caucuses. Peggy Baum, Catt Center, is the adviser for the Catt Associates, a student club for people interested in public policy. She noted that Catt students and others were involved in a new event this year, the Regents Day at the Capitol. More than 80 Iowa State students and 15 clubs and organizations went to Des Moines on Feb. 16 to lobby for state support for public universities. "My experience is that elected student leaders are more involved than usual in politics beyond campus," Baum said. Student numbers The New Voters Project is a new student club this semester. More than 40 people attended a kickoff meeting of the nonpartisan effort to register new voters. Paul Coates, political science, is the group's adviser. Some of his students have internships with the project. Of course, registering is only one step. In the 2000 election, only 36 percent of registered voters aged 18-24 showed up at Iowa polls. Five of Ames' 20 precincts have heavy concentrations of ISU students. They are:
The caucus effect The ISU Democrats were at the center of a whirlwind before the caucuses. Student groups formed to support candidates John Kerry, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich. Jim Hutter, political science, is the ISU Democrats' adviser. He said it is hard to characterize changes, or the reasons for them, in student interest in politics. "Several candidates had offices and paid staff in Ames. That has some short-term effects on student involvement," he said. Jeff Hall, Parks Library, is the adviser to Students for Kucinich. He said some members of the group had not been politically active before, but were drawn to the group by Kucinich's stand on issues. He predicts that the students will stay involved, though some may switch to issue-based work rather than candidate support. Internet readers Hutter said the Internet is another factor in changes in student behavior. His students are reading national newspapers online before class. They can always be ahead of him on one story or another, he said, and perhaps that has an effect on their attitudes and activism. The ISU student chapter for the American Civil Liberties Union is an issue-based student group. Robert Baum, philosophy and religion, is the adviser. He said ACLU student members are involved with a community-wide effort to bring concerns about the federal Patriot Act to the Ames City Council. Roger Stover, finance, adviser to ISU College Republicans, said he is pleased that the Iowa State Daily now has Friday columns written by students from the perspective of their political parties. Beginning in 1972 College-age students gained the right to vote in 1972, when Congress moved the voting age from 21 to 18 years. Sixty-eight percent of registered Iowa voters age 18-24 voted that year. In the 2000 national election, that percentage dropped to 50 percent. Tom Emmerson, journalism and mass communication, who lives in precinct 2-2, estimated that student participation in his precinct increased from about 10 percent of caucus goers in the past to as much as 40 percent this year. "It may not have been that high, but there was a big increase," he said. According to caucus entrance polls taken by the national poll team of Edison/Mitofsky, 17 percent of 2004 Iowa Democratic caucus participants were under the age of 30. That was a four-fold increase in numbers of young caucus goers, compared with the 2000 Democratic Caucus, when these younger voters accounted for 9 percent of all participants. New voter registrants Jan. 19-March 8 (Ames' 5 student precincts) By age
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Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111 Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University. All rights reserved. |