Youth Opinion : Students: ‘We’re Not Taught How to Make the Gears Turn’

Only 16% of college freshman--fewer than one in five--say they discuss politics frequently, according to a national poll last fall of more than 230,000 first-year college students by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. JAMES BLAIR talked with college political activists around Southern California to find out about the level of involvement at their campuses and their view of the wave of campus apathy. ACIDRIA DRATI

Junior, political science and psychology major, student body president,

UC Irvine

Young people are not voting because their issues are not being addressed. On the state level an example would be financial aid. Traditionally, aid for needy students in the UC system was geared toward outright grants. Now it’s more loans and tuition fees are going up. Most students receiving this aid also work to keep themselves from going too deeply in debt and the added pressure may affect their grades.

And if students are not voting, it’s not in the interest of the politicians to address those concerns. Senior citizens are doing a good job in voter turnout so their issues are being addressed.

(Since 1989) the school has had a program called “Visions” to introduce freshmen to student government. They can take this student-taught class for credit. It gives them a foundation for political activity. They can intern with a student government officer. There are 10 students enrolled this quarter. It’s an active way of getting them involved.

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GREGORY WRIGHT

Graduate student, president of 100 Black Men of USC, a group dedicated to helping black youth

Politics affect people differently depending on the level of the elections. On a national level, people are somewhat detached. But issues passed by Washington really do affect the people I care about. Before coming back to college to get my MBA, I worked for a low-income housing group. And the 100 Black Men have a mentorship program in Nickerson Gardens in Watts.

Looking at the local elections--Proposition 187 and some of the other issues--people at USC really stood up and became very active. We had a lot of Chicano students protesting on campus.

(Student interest in politics) varies depending on the part of the country you’re in. In Washington, D.C., where it is very politically oriented, young people are constantly watching the news. In Southern California, people are more into the show-biz type of thing. *

ANA DELGADO

Sophomore, government major,

Claremont McKenna College

I found that throughout high school, and even before, students are not taught the importance of political action or activism. We’re taught how the gears turn, but we’re not taught how to make those gears turn the way we want them to. We’re taught there are two chambers in the legislative branch and that there’s a president elected every four years. But we’re not taught how to write our congressman, how lobbyists work, how a campaign is run. That’s what we need to learn to feel like we can make a difference.

This last election taught a lot of people that when there are enough (voters) dissatisfied with a situation change can occur.

If they can do it, we can do it too. *

PATRICIA CEJA

Sophomore, psychology major,

Occidental College

Ever since I turned 18 I’ve been voting. If I want something I have to stand up for what I want and if I see something’s wrong then I have to do something about it. I am involved in a political group called Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan/Assn. of Latin American Students, which tries to get the Latino community more politically involved.

Proposition 187 did a great deal for political activity on campus. We had our own march here. We had an open forum. People got up and spoke about their political views. *

APRIL JOHNSON

Senior, combined women’s and black studies major, Cal State Long Beach

When I first became active, I did the marches and defended the family planning clinics. It was a very overt activeness. But I think that the term active can also mean the way I live my life, whether it’s my waitressing job or going to school or talking to the person at the coffee shop about what is going on and why.

I work in a restaurant with a lot of people my age and in college for the first time. It’s easy not to talk, to not discuss politics. By openly engaging in these (political) conversations, not fearing that someone might not agree with me, that is why I describe myself as politically active.

I find it discouraging the way people talk about Generation X because that’s my generation. I think this is a very different time. For 17-year-olds in their first year of college, there’s so much to do that I think politics, and realizing the impact it has on our lives, comes a little bit later than it used to.