If any question remained concerning whether the university actually lived up to its No. 1 party school ranking, Halloween dispelled all doubt. Although the university solidified its party- school status, Madison's reputation as a politically active campus remains dubious.
Madisonians flocked to the polls in record numbers during the 2004 presidential election, but local elections consistently garner low civic participation. The student body's apathy toward local politics, especially during non-election years, demonstrates that the campus' devotion to drinking surpasses its devotion to democracy.
As midterm senate elections approach and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., considers running for president in 2008, students at the university face a great responsibility. Instead of bolstering Madison's alcohol-related party-school reputation, students should rally to demonstrate that the Badgers top the charts as the No. 1 political party school.
The importance of mobilizing students of all political affiliations aside, liberals on campus face the greatest obligation to achieve this goal and to achieve it promptly. As the majority on campus, student Democrats should neither flip-cup nor flip-flop when it comes to mobilizing their base.
Before President Bush leaves office in 2008, Democrats on campus must pump up partisans and reel in moderates for the displacement of the elephant congress and presidency. Some efforts, including a November protest against the war, heightened political passions, and the intense 'Rock the Vote' and 'Vote or Die' rhetoric passed away with Bush's re-election. Furthermore, radical steps toward energizing the electorate should take a back seat to providing students with objective information.
Without MTV reminding students to exercise their constitutional right to vote, students seem to forget that elections take place more than once every four years. Local elections often fall off the radar and the importance of Wisconsin politics to the student body remains unrecognized or obscure, especially for out-of-state students.
To counteract the political stagnation that occurs during the four years between each presidential election, political groups on campus should energize voters for the 2006 elections. Next fall, voters will have the opportunity to determine who will take the office of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, U.S. representative, secretary of state, state treasurer and state senators of odd-numbered districts in Wisconsin.
Students should take a shot at participating in these local elections before too many shots of vodka impair their ability to understand the importance of local civic duty. Furthermore, students' political participation should extend past voting to include writing letters to senators, campaigning for important issues and, above all, seeking honest information.
On the national scale, plummeting public approval for the current administration points to the necessity of encouraging the electorate to enact change. Discontent with the Bush administration touches citizens of all political affiliations, and civic activism represents the first step toward correcting this cycle of ineffective governance.
The university's current 'work hard, party hard' reputation could justly evolve into a 'party hard, party hard' status if students shift some energy from casting a beer-pong ball to casting a ballot. The university's image and appeal as a campus with a flourishing political party scene will increase if students accept the responsibility of civic participation on all levels of government at all times.
