Methodist College
Fayetteville, NC Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1996
College voters: Turned off by the ’96 election?
The College Press Service
CHICAGO-Outside the
clothing store Urban Outfitters, 20-
year-old Dave Wachter, sporting a
goatee and round, reflective sun
glasses, discusses his voting phi
losophy.
“I’d rather select someone
based on whatever their individual
issues are,” said Wachter, a junior
at the school of the Art Institute of
Chicago. “I just want someone
who’s thinking the way I think.”
Wachter explains that he
registered to vote while in high
school, but did not choose a major
political party. He plans to vote in
the presidential elections this fall,
but he’s not sure for whom.
“I’m not really thrilled
about any of the candidates,” he
said.
It’s been a quarter of a
century since 18-year-olds won the
right to vote, and in the ensuing
years, the youth vote has re
mained largely unpredictable.
Political scientists say
18-to-24-year-olds are less likely
than any other age groups to reg
ister with a party or show up in
large numbers at the polls. In
the 1992 presidential elections,
only about half of that age group
was registered to vote, and only
43 percent of that number actu
ally voted.
In an age when more
Americans say they no longer
identify with a political party and
profess a loss of faith in the elec
toral process, the youngest vot
ers might be the most cynical of
all.
In 1992, when Bill
Clinton campaigned on college
campuses and played rock mu
sic on his bus tour, a record
number of young people—about
20 percent--turned up at the
polls to vote for him.
“The theme for ‘92 was
‘change’ [and] that energized a lot
of young people,” explained Mark
Nevins, communications director
for the College Democrats.
But national surveys
show that many young voters have
felt let down by the president. An
MTV poll conducted in March
showed that nearly 70 percent of
young people are turned off to the
1996 presidential elections.
At a time when every
thing from information to ham
burgers can be obtained almost in
stantaneously, the government
may appear to move too slowly.
When it came to weighty issues
such as health care, the change
“didn’t come fast enough,” Nevins
said. “It’s the point-and-click
generation, Our generation ex
pects it to change quickly.”
In 1996, it remains to be
seen how many young people will
show up at the polls. And the
youth vote itself is up for grabs—
by Clinton, Bob Dole or even a
third-party candidate.
Wachter’s friend and
classmate, 21-year-old Wayne
Snyder, registered-to vote when
he renewed his license. That’s the
result of the so-called motor voter
law, a federal statute designed to
boost the number of voters by pro
viding registration forms in mo
tor vehicle and other government
offices.
Like Wachter, Snyder
did not choose a party. “I just
didn’t want to be affiliated with
anyone,” he explained.
Although he might vote
for Clinton because he “sounds the
best of everybody,” he’ll change
his mind “if somebody shows up
that’s worth listening to,” he said.
That’s not surprising to
Gwen Lipsky, senior vice presi
dent of research and planning at
MTV. A recent MTV poll showed
support among young people for
a potential Reform Party candi
date in key states: Michigan, New
Jersey, and California.
“As we’ve seen through
out this election year, young
people are still very actively
weighing their votes,” Lipsky said.
“The current support for a Reform
Party candidate in these three
states shows that the youth vote
is still very much up for grabs.”
While MTV’s Choose or
Lose campaign features a national
bus tour and promotional stops to
register voters, convincing large
numbers of young voters to turn
out to the polls may prove a chal
lenge. A recent poll by the cable
music channel showed that about
a quarter, or 26 percent, of young
adults ages 17 to 29 said the mud-
slinging and bickering among the
candidates was a major turn-off.
Eleven percent of those
polled said they didn’t trust the
candidates; another 11 percent
complained the candidates didn’t
address the issues. Eight percent
of young voters said they disked
the candidates, while 4 percent
said boredom was the reason they
were tuning out the 1996 elec
tions.
While young people may
be unenthusiastic about the politi
cal process, they do agree on cer
tain issues, according to the same
March poll.
A majority of young
people support having strong en
vironmental protection laws, rais
ing minimum wage and passing a
balanced budget amendment.
They were less in agreement,
(See ELECTION, pg. 2)
Crime, deficit, moral character
major concerns of MC voters
By Alexandra Nulle Dummer
Staff Writer
Politics seem to be on
everyone’s mind as the 1996 presi
dential gets closer and closer.
According to recent inter
views, students on campus do have
opinions on the presidential elec
tion. It is said that most young
people don’t vote because they
don’t really know what it is they
want from a candidate, or if they
do vote, it is due to their parents'
influence. Students questioned
around campus recently over
whelmingly affirmed that they
planned to vote in the coming elec
tion. However, several students
expressed that they thought their
vote didn't matter. It would be fool
ish to think that candidates would
spend all their time and money trav
eling around to get votes if it really
didn’t matter.
Both Republican nominee
Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton
have major issues concerning them.
Dole has promised a 15 percent tax
cut if he is elected, to continue the
war on drugs, to return to family
values, and to increase in military
spending, which is a huge plus in a
town like Fayetteville. Clinton,
however, is concerned with educa
tion and has proposed a tax credit
for college tuition so anyone can go
to school, which directly affects
us as college students. He also
has emphasized making sure
Social Security and Medicare
will continue for future genera
tions, stopping illegal immi
grants, and reducing tobacco
publicity. Obviously Clinton has
some controversial issues on his
side, but he seems to be winning
in the national polls. Recently
Clinton agreed to increase the
minimum wage from $4.25 to
$4.75 an hour starting Oct. 1
with a further hike to $5.15 next
summer, and has also recently
signed the welfare reform act
which allows individual states to
determine how to get welfare re
cipients off welfare and into jobs.
What do MC students
want to see from the next presi
dent? Honesty, a lower deficit,
and tougher laws on crime seem
to be of major concern.
What don’t students
like about each candidate? Dole
has not explained to the people
how he will achieve his tax cut
and lower the deficit. As far as
Clinton, many of you don’t trust
him because he hasn’t kept his
promises from the 1992 election
and has used the coming elec
tions to make himself look good.
Also, the truth about the
Whitewater scandal has still not
come out and his escape from the
draft for Vietnam makes some
wonder if he should be trusted to
lead the country.
Fifty percent of students
polled said they will vote for Dole
and 30 percent for Clinton.
Twenty percent said they are un
decided because they don’t like ei
ther candidate or haven’t kept up
with politics.
Methodist has two stu
dent organizations for those who
are interested in political issues.
The Young Democrats and Young
Republicans clubs are both ad
vised by Dr. Trevor Morris, assis
tant professor of political science.
Morris said many people may lack
interest in the election because the
candidates are "using a lot of catch
phrases, but not a lot of sub
stance." He further added that
many people do not see a great
difference between the candidates
except their personalities. He said,
"Everything is about leadership
and character, which is hard to
find."
The Young Democrats
and Young Republicans provide
opportunities for students to get
involved in the political process.
Anyone interested in either club
can contact Morris at 630-7078.
Fran pays unwelcome visit to Methodist
The recently dedicated Player building was spared by a few feet when this tree was toppled by winds from Hurri
cane Fran. Fran hit Fayetteville on Sept. 5 with hurricane force winds of approximately 85 miles per hour, leaving
the college and most of the surrounding area without power for several days. Fran spared most of the structures at
the college, and classes resumed on Sept. 9. See related photo essay on page 5. (Photo by Bill Billings)
1 Entertainment
1 A.J. Jamal discusses how he became a success-
1 ful comedian
page 2
1 Theatre department prepares to present The
Tempest
page 3
Sports
1 Cross-country coach optimistic about season
1 with veteran runners
page 4
1 Volleyball team pushing themselves to achieve
winning season...
page 4
Special
1 Photo essay of Hurricane Fran's aftermath on
campus
page 5
Involvement, independence emphasized at fall convocation
Staff Report
Speakers at the opening
convocation Sept. 9 urged stu
dents to get involved and develop
the passion to be a lifelong
learner.
After a vocal perfor
mance of "God Help the Out
casts" by assistant registrar Lynley
Asay, Student Government Asso
ciation president Leon Clark
called on all students to get in
volved in campus activities.
After introducing the
SGA members, Clark said,
"They're involved because they
enjoy college, and they enjoy col
lege because they're involved." He
explained how the SGA commu
nicates student concerns and pro
posals and said that President
Elton Hendricks has never re
jected a proposal from the SGA.
Clark also noted that the
Student Life office was accepting
volunteers to help area residents
Dr. Hendricks discussed the idea that a student is "not a
vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted” in Methodist
College's opening convocation message.
clean up the damage from Hurri
cane Fran. He concluded by ask
ing students to "get involved, rep
resent, volunteer, and give blood."
Dr. Hendricks focused
his message on differentiating be
tween instruction and education.
Referring to the Latin origins of
the two words, he described in
struction as "filling in" and edu
cation as "leading out."
"Good instruction ex
pands data bases," he said. "But
education aims to teach students
to ask questions."
Dr. Hendricks then de
scribed some of the most funda
mental questions that students
should ask themselves. "What is
virtue? What is truth? What is the
good life? Who am 1? What am 1
to do with my life?" In consider
ing these questions, he explained
that answering them does not re
quire more instruction, but re
quires education and the ability to
think for oneself.
"Most problems of the
world are not due to a shortage
of information," he said. Citing is
sues such as genetic engineering,
environmental pollution, and sex
education in public schools, he ex
plained that "contradictions and
complexities are the rule rather
than the exception of human ex
istence."
Dr. Hendricks indicated
that he believes college students
do have the maturity to address
complex issues, and described the
importance of learning to think for
oneself. "Information is so often
temporary," he said. "Education
has to teach you to learn, grow,
and develop."
He concluded his mes
sage by telling students, "I hope
you learn how to learn and learn
to love learning."
)