Apathy doesn't change a thing

By Tim Simenson

Some say that government doesn’t affect their life. Some people say that government doesn’t work. I believe it is because of these ideas that so many people do not vote. “I had to study for a test,” or “Well…I just didn’t think to go.” Now I wonder; what else do these excuses tell me but that they don’t see its importance in their life. So many of us here at Fresno State, and I’m talking about the 18 to 24 demographic—are quick to complain about classes being dropped because of budget cuts, or how the United States has been away at war, but the same group of people, for the most part, does not go out and vote. Voting is the key to this country—it is our chance to make our lives the way we want them to be.

You say that voting doesn’t affect you? How many of you have family or friends risking their lives in a distant country? Who has thought about the legalization of certain drugs? How many of you have wished there were better lighting at night on campus? These are the types of things that voting—your voting—can affect. This year is going to be a deciding year as far as our country, and our personal lives. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but there has been a bigger push to get us to vote than any year before. Look at MTV.

They are having OutKast perform on stage with people dancing into voting booths, for crying out loud. Haven’t you noticed all the commercials on TV and the radio targeting our age group to vote? I just think it’s about time that all the resources spent to make us appreciate our right to vote don’t go to waste.

According to the Current Population Survey, which comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, only 36.1% of my age group (18-24) voted in the last presidential election. I don’t even want to know what it is in other elections, and I sure don’t even want to get into how many of us students voted in the campus election back in April. The only way this country—this campus—will get better is if each person writes down their two cents. I don’t want a minority of us on campus voting for the majority. So please, the next time you find yourself wishing this campus, or the country would have done things differently; do your part and vote.