Editorial
Presidential race shaping studentsʼ future; be informed
October 5, 2012
It doesn’t matter what time of day we do it. For the next month we will all be barraged by political commercials every time we turn on our TV and on the Internet.
Needless to say, these commercials will be throwing lots of information at us which they expect all voters to take as fact. Of course, anyone who has seen their fair share of political commercials knows that all they do is contradict each other.
Unfortunately there are many Americans who will see these commercials and take them as fact. Yes, there are people out there who will see a commercial, debate or news story and decide on a candidate because they seem more “trustworthy.”
Don’t be one of those people.
Studies have shown that, nationally, only 62 percent of college students go out and vote. If UW-River Falls were to follow that average, it would mean that about 2,425 of the students at UWRF would not vote. That’s simply unacceptable.
By the time the next presidential election rolls around nearly every student currently in college will have graduated. We will all be entering into the “real world” which will be shaped by this election.
Obviously no college student would decide their major, or pick their classes, based on what seems a more “trustworthy” or “safer” option. So why would any college student pick a person who has a huge bearing on the economy they’ll be entering in to based on those same parameters?
It seems that nearly every election cycle millions of people complain about how the country is being run. However, when it comes time to vote these people either don’t vote, or have no idea what, or who, they are voting for.
Don’t be one of those people, either.
We at the Student Voice aren’t saying that all students should put in hours upon hours of research on the election. Just a few minutes so there are less people voting for candidates based on their appearance rather than their stances on important issues.
Do your research before heading out to the polls on Nov. 6. Know what stance each candidate takes on issues that are important to you. Know what you have to do to both register to vote as well as where to vote. You cannot vote in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, that’s a felony.
Do your homework in the next month before heading out to the polls. Don’t forget that this election not only shapes the next four years of our country, but it also shapes the world in which we will be entering into after we leave college.