Cabrini Rocks the Vote SGAteams up with MTV’s Rock the Vote

MELISSA STEVEN STAFFWRITER MS727@CABRINI EDU

Election year 2004 is upon us and in the last election only 18 million young people voted out of 40 million. MTV and Rock the Vote are challenging that number this election year and believe they can get 20 million young people to come out and vote this time around. Last years election was decided by 500,000 votes, so young people have the chance to make a difference in this election, to choose their future president of the United States of America.

Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that encourages young people to make changes in their communities and the world by utilizing their right to vote. They coordinate registration drives along with putting together voting events to get infor mation out on the candidates running for office. Cabrini has joined in this effort with Student Government Association to get the students to register. MTV’s aim is to stress to young people the importance of voting.

Sarah Madden, 21, a senior marketing major at Cabrini who is involved in Rock the Vote said that, “SGA wanted to bring Rock the Vote onto our campus to promoteto our generation the importance of registering and voting in this 2004 election year.This is a very important year to utilize our voting power as young voters and students need to know how they can properly go about registering.”

The Rock the Vote Bus Tour brings events to college campuses and major political conventions to get young people to register to vote. Cabrini will be holding events now through October in Grace Hall to register students. They are also held throughout the country bringing artists such as Ben Jelen, Tyler Hilton and many other upcoming ar tists to perform and to promote the message to vote. The Bus Tour is divided into two phases, the first being primarily to get people to register to vote. The second phase is to educate voters with information booths and having their local politicians and celebrities to come speak at the different venues.

Major issues that should be concerning young people are education, healthcare, the war in Iraq and jobs. There is a possibility of even reinstating a military draft. Only last week at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing did Senator Chuck Hagel R-Neb., bring up the issue for debate. These issues are discussed at Rock the Vote events to ensure that whoever he or she is going to vote for, that they agree with where their candidate stands on those issues.

Those are only a couple of the many reasons why young people should pay attention to an organization like Rock the Vote who want to provide them with all of this knowledge and more, because this year they want 20 million young people to use their right to vote.

CECELIA FRANSICO/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Register to vote at the following Rock the Vote times:

Sept. 23Involvement Fair

2-5 p.m. Grace Hall

Sept. 29Project Vote Smart

4 p.m. Grace Hall

Also check out the Rock the Vote comedy show on Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. in Grace Hall.