CAMPUS AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, April 24, 1984
Page 7
Issues may add to student voter turnout
By ROB KARWATH Staff Reporter
Twenty-four years ago, John Kennedy's youthful visage and new ideas captured the attention of college students and brought them out to the polls in record numbers.
But since then, student turnout often has been described by one word:
However, students' influence in the November general election could return to the level of the 1960 election if campaign issues prove fiery enough to motivate them to register to vote and to out turn at the polls on Nov. 6, the KU director for the Associated Students of Kansas said yesterday.
Chris Edmonds, the director, said he
thought that issues important to students would be brought up in state and national campaigns this fall, and that student voter turnout would be greater this year than in previous general election years.
"BUT THEN AGAIN, we said more students would vote in 1800 than in 1900."
Edmonds said that nationally, the controversy over cutting financial aid for college students would generate some concerns. Locally, the issues of raising the drinking age and financing college tuition catch the attention of many students.
"Iissues like these have close-to home impact for students," he said.
Although the issues debated will be an important determinant, student performance is a critical factor.
democrats choose as their candidate for president, said Clifford Ketzel, Douglas County coordinator of the Hart campaign.
Ketzel said that if Hart became the Democratic nominee, more students would vote.
"Given the support he has among young people, I think that one could expect a greater student voter turnout if we seen in previous years," Ketel said.
"IT IS GENERALLY CONCEEDED that the slogans of 'New Ideas' and 'New Leadership' have caught on with students the same way they did in the early 1960s with President Kennedy," he said.
These drives will translate into more students volunte in November, he said.
Bill Morton, staff director for College Young Democrats of America, a department of the Democratic National
Committee in Washington, D.C. said that student voter registration drives will be introduced.
Morton said that during the 1970s, college students were complacent and not inspired to vote.
"It is hard to single out students "solely, but during that decade many people began to focus on domestic and their own well-being," he said.
Morton said that income levels of many people rose during the 1970s, and students especially did not see any issues facing them directly.
"It wasn't like in the '60s when the threat of going to war was very real for students," he said.
ASK begins drive to register students to vote
By CINDY HOLM Staff Reporter
Only 15 percent to 20 percent of KU students are registered to vote, which is not enough. The KU director of the University Students of Kansas said yesterday.
Chris Edmonds, the director, said that 15 percent was an optimistic estimate because counties didn't keep statistics on the number of student voters.
"We want to get students involved in the political process," he said. "I think
there needs to be an activist movement where there has been passiveness."
TO INCREASE THE number of registered students, ASK today will begin a voter registration drive in front of the Kansas Union. The drive will continue tomorrow and Thursday at the Union and in front of Wescoe Hall.
Edmonds said that ASK would provide postcards for students to fill out requesting registration materials from their home counties.
Mark Tallman, executive director of ASK, said that ASK's other six members had conducted similar drives this semester. ASK comprises the six
Regents schools and Washburn University.
Washburn sponsored a drive during spring enrollment, he said, and other campuses conducted drives before the annual caucus, which were March 24.
Edmonds said that the KU chapter had waited until this week because the caucuses included only one party and the other needed time to organize the drive.
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ALL SEVEN CAMPUSES will begin registering students during fall enrollment, he said, and registration will continue until Oct. 16, the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 6 presidential election.
registration will occur in the fall.
Tallman said that the spring drives were only the preliminary steps of a statewide voter registration push called Task Force 84. The bulk of
In October, he said, ASK also will concentrate on voter education by sending out a newsletter containing information about candidates and candidates' opinions on issues relating to students.
Each campus will sponsor other informational activities such as des-
kaying trips, campus tours, and other events.
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Reprinted with permission from the University of Texas at Austin.
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