SJSU Students too Busy for Politics

The road to the upcoming U.S. presidential election is making headlines everyday. Whether it’s Hillary Clinton, John McCain or Barack Obama who wins the election, Americans will see a first. The first woman president, the first black president or the oldest president to take office.

But discovering when, where and how to vote, navigating political jargon and sensationalized news stories have turned the presidential election into a confusing maze that students find hard to navigate.

Professor Al Schendan, who has taught Political Science for three years at San Jose State University, thinks the election process is confusing for students.

“I think politics in general turns people off in America, particularly students. I’m not sure that students realize that the decisions the government makes… actually impacts them” Schendan said.

Brian Blade, a sophomore kinesiology major, didn’t vote in the California primary. “I’m just one person, I don’t think I’ll make a difference,” Blade said.

There are other reasons why students choose not to vote.

“I know a lot of college students…on campus, so the chances of us to drive somewhere else to vote and come back, especially with gas prices going up at the same time, it’s unlikely for us to vote,” Alex Mercedes, a sophomore nursing major, said.

Kimika Livingston, a senior business management major, finds it hard to devote time from her busy schedule to follow the election process. “I took a high level class in high school and I forgot almost everything that I learned…I am much more busier now than I was, so I don’t really have time to get into it like I did four years ago.”

Other students tune the election out because of dirty politics.

“It [politics] does turn me off, because it’s the same old geezer trying to run for it,” James Paydo said, a senior mechanical engineering student. “The person with the best ideas and best qualifies for the job might not have the money to actually run for the job and that’s my problem with it.”

Jordan Alley, echoes this sentiment, “Every year it seems to be just firing back and forth, insulting each other. Nobody really seems to be adult about anything.”

According to the spring 2008 issue of Access magazine, 56 percent of SJSU students voted in the California primary. Thirty-two percent of students polled voted for Barack Obama, 18 percent of students voted for Hillary Clinton and six percent of students voted for John McCain. Still, 39 percent of students didn’t vote.

James Brent, the department head of the Political Science program, has taught political science for 15 years at SJSU. Brent understands the difficulty college students face when the election rolls around.

“It’s difficult to follow through with. For example, students are often transient,” Brent said. “They transfer schools they maybe attending a university in a different city from where there permanent home is so I run into a lot of students who never change there registration and when Election Day roles around its too late.”

Despite the obstacles that face them, there are SJSU students that actively engage in politics.

“I wanted to contribute. I think it's time for a change. And every vote counts. It's my duty.” Oscar Martin said, a freshman at SJSU.

Christopher Tenblador, a 22-year-old sociology major, was a past congressional intern and helped host the Crash the Parties national contest at SJSU. The event was designed to spread awareness about political and social issues and encourage minorities to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

“Definitely this year I’ve seen a lot of people and young minorities getting involved with the upcoming presidential election. It’s very exciting, especially having an event like this, there was a need to harness that energy and encourage others and spread it like a virus” Tenblador said.

Sarah Bronstein, a member of the Democratic Caucus of SJSU wanted to bridge the gap between students and politics through the club.

“College is about the experience you have with other students, and we think the best place to that is really through clubs,” Bronstein said. “And why not do that through Political means? There are so many ways that political organizations can help you, just have a greater sense of community, a greater sense of accomplishment and we want to have that on our campus."

"We have a stigma of a commuter school and it's just hard to keep people on campus,” Andrae Macapinlac said, a member of the Democratic Caucus of SJSU. “It's hard to say 'You know what? There’s something you can do other then going to classes.'"

San Jose State University College Republicans also want to see students take an interest in politics.

“We [the SJSU College Republicans] generally want to spread awareness of being involved…We need action,” Garret Brummer, Vice-Chairman of the SJSU College Republicans said.

“There are a lot more of conservative republicans than people realize but it’s just a matter of finding them,” Bryan DeWinter, Chairman of the SJSU College Republicans said.

Brummer believes that the conservatives on campus feel alienated from stating their view publicly because of stereotypes and misconceptions placed on republicans.

“It’s hard to come out and make a strong stand in this environment and we want to reach out to this people…and just show them there are republicans,” Brummer said.

The SJSU College Republicans club has 45 members, but only 15 active.

Both the Democratic Caucus of SJSU and the SJSU College Republicans expressed the hardships of maintaining a political club on campus. Both clubs were inactive, both clubs had to go through the process of becoming a recognized SJSU club on campus and both clubs find it hard to motivate students to actively participate in the club.

So do young adults, mainly those in the forgotten 18-25 year old bracket, make a difference in presidential outcome?

“Everytime there’s a presidential election there’s stories about the rise in youth vote and how it’s rising up. We heard it with Kerry, we heard it with Gore, we heard it with Clinton and it very rarely ever turns out to be true,” Professor James Brent said.

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