I am concerned about students' attitudes toward politics. Many of us seem more interested in self-centered things like music downloads and Facebook than issues that could really affect our future.
These misplaced priorities are distracting us from the greater issues in society and leading to a national decline in civic participation and interest in public affairs.
The Madison area tends to fare better than the country in terms of youth participation. According to state Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, 18-29-year-old voters formed 17 percent of the Wisconsin electorate in the 2006 elections, more than the national average youth voting rate of 12 percent.
Students have held protests and rallies on campus already this semester. Yet, it doesn't seem like enough. Young people have voted proportionally less than other, older age groups. Campus rallies generally involve a committed few, and lack the widespread participation in past years.
This apathetic generation has some people worried. How can our society continue to function if future citizens aren't willing to put forth effort? What would become of democracy if voting levels continue to slip? Part of the problem is that generations of active citizens are aging and dying off.
If this continues, voting levels may continue to fall, which would undermine our democratic system. Our government can't work without an informed and active public. We are that future public.
A couple of months ago, UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam called for students to step up their participation and activism - with little effect. She said she wanted students to be active and engaged"" and ""to be passionate about topics and issues that speak to their own worldview.""
A panel of state legislators also met a few weeks ago to discuss the absence of student involvement in politics. They concluded that student activism is important ""during times like these"" and they wanted the campus to return to Vietnam-era levels of activism. Many students probably missed this advice because they don't pay attention to statements coming from the Offices of the Dean of
Students or didn't attend the panel discussion.
There's a link between political participation and consumption of journalism. Our generation reads less, absorbs less news and follows current events less than our parents and grandparents. According to the Newspaper Association of America, daily circulation of American newspapers fell more than 17 percent between 1984 and 2006. About 43 percent of newspaper subscribers were 55 and older in 2006. The Wall Street Journal admits that the newspaper industry has ""failed to figure out how to attract younger readers to their pages.""
Although it's probably true that newspapers are not the future of non-entertainment content for our generation, they might be the most useful. Newspapers do most of the original reporting that is fed to other media like television and the Internet, and they are able to cover stories more in-depth. Getting news from the Internet often fails to provide the full context and significance of some stories.
What's going on? Maybe students are fed up with the traditional news sources and their corporate agenda. Perhaps students are simply too busy. There are many things for college students to worry about already. I think many are frustrated with the current polarizing party system. But abstaining from the process won't change anything.
Can something be done to help encourage involvement? Should it? This is a difficult thing for people like Berquam or a panel of legislators to influence because it needs to come directly from the students themselves. How can we force passion? Can we afford to ignore a lack thereof?
Brian Bisek is a sophomore with an undecided major. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
