Only six weeks out from the general election, DU students, staff and faculty kick started the last leg of the campaign season with informational tables, brochures and a megaphone last Thursday.
The “Election Kick-Off,” organized by Partners in Learning (PIL) and sponsored by campus political organizations, AUSA Senate, DUPB and [dis]claimer, greeted traffic between Sturm Hall and the Driscoll Student Center during the day.
Students could step up on a soapbox and speak their mind into a megaphone on any issue they felt was important. “I wanted students to have a place where they can be passionate about something and talk about it,” said PIL director, Karen Bensen.
Between noon and 1 p.m., soapbox participants competed for DU paraphernalia from the bookstore.
Kasina Entzi, a senior, won the competition. “I’m tired of seeing more signs on my campus for ‘Sex and the City’ than for issues that are going on in the real world,” she said.
Second place winner Daniel Wong, a sophomore, spoke about intellectual property. Although it is not a hot-button issue this election season, Wong said, ” I didn’t want the obscure issues to get lost. It’s all in the details.”
Michael Neil, a grad student, won third place by speaking out against a proposed ballot initiative in Colorado.
Amendment 48, Neil argued, would take contraceptive options away from citizens by defining a person as such at the moment of fertilization.
Neil also tabled for the Feminist Majority Foundation, one of 12 organizations set up to field questions and offer information about issues, candidates, and voting.
Students also had the opportunity to learn about the about the 18 initatives that will be on the ballot in November by picking up a four-page informational packet.
ACLU, the Latina Initiative and Democrats Work, along with several campaigns, also showed up to help.
Jessie Stewart, a senior, liked that students could learn while traveling between classes. “I’m excited because I feel young people are paying attention,” she said.
All sides of the Colorado Senate race were also represented, including Republican Bob Schaffer and Democrat Mark Udall’s campaigns, and Green Party candidate, Bob Kinsey.
Kinsey was the only candidate present, and he used the soapbox, and his table, to remind the voters that, “you have a third choice this November.”
His efforts didn’t go unnoticed, as sophomore international studies and economics major Patrick Waller called Kinsey’s presence “refreshing.”
As a first time voter, he said he’s seen a lot of negative ads and was happy to hear he had another choice in the Senate race.
But some DU students felt that their fellow Pioneers were not engaged enough in this opportunity.
“Stop walking by and acting like you don’t care,” said Miles Lauchli, a sophomore, to the student body. Students continued to pass him without notice, prompting Lauchli to ask, “Are you going to sleepwalk through the rest of your life?”
With approximately 40 days left before the election, a lot of information is being distributed by all sides.
Sophomore David Smith said that while he hasn’t declared a major, he has made a decision about this election.
“I’m declared to vote,” he said, “That’s all that matters to me.”
