Collin Beck | Make an informed vote - or die

Remember when P. Diddy was screaming at everyone to Vote or Die? That's how Locust Walk feels now. People yell about how important it is for college students to vote in this historic election. (Has there ever been a non-historic election?)

But is it really that important for young people to vote? It's often cited that only 46.7 percent of those aged 18 to 24 voted in 2004, compared to 73.3 percent of adults aged 65 to 74.

While many may find those statistics discouraging, to me they seem about right. Don't get me wrong, voting is important, and I consider it my civic duty. However, not everyone our age agrees - evidently more than half don't. And that's just fine. If they're apathetic about voting or don't think they have the time, aren't we better off with them not doing it?

To me, it's like when a wife asks her husband which dress to wear, but he's too busy watching SportsCenter to look at either of them. So he just shouts, "The second one!" Do we really want to nag people into choosing a commander in chief?

Rather than simply telling people to vote, campus groups should give people a reason they should. It'd be great if you could walk down Locust Walk and find informational pamphlets on candidates and their platforms.

But sadly, the only person I've found doing this is the LaRouche guy. He may be crazy, but not only does he pass out his candidate's platform, he's also willing to wear it as a human sign.

In contrast, the mainstream parties simply hand out career fair-esque goodies. A booth sells Barack Obama T-shirts. What better way to choose a candidate than on how his name looks on a shirt? If only "Jesus is my Homeboy" had run in 2000, we might have avoided the Iraq War.

No less than three times I've been asked if I wanted an Obama sticker. Despite my desire to add to my ever increasing sticker collection (which I keep in my trapper keeper), I declined. While some may interpret wearing such memorabilia as showing support for their candidate, to me it seems more like organized peer pressure.

I wouldn't be surprised if next week they just started mobbing everyone on the walk shouting, "Vote Obama, man, everyone's doing it. How else are you going to be popular, you don't even drink?"

I apologize if it seems like I'm picking on Obama too much. It's nothing personal. You just don't get offered too many McCain stickers at Penn. They'd be a scarlet letter - like "zit stickers" from that game Girl Talk. "You got caught cheating on your Roman History exam. Take 3 McCain stickers!"

I'm not saying that people shouldn't vote, just that we should focus on raising the number of informed voters - not simply voters. And being an uninformed voter is something I'm guilty of myself.

In 2004 I left North Dakota (via horse and buggy) for Penn. Soon after, a clipboard volunteer convinced me to register in Pennsylvania. I was excited for my presidential vote to actually count, but when I filled out my ballot on Election Day, I realized living in Hill for two months didn't really make me a Pennsylvanian.

Sure, I knew my presidential vote, but I had no clue about local and state issues. I mean, two months earlier I thought Philadelphia was on the ocean. (It's really close if you look at a national map, OK?) If someone had run for state senate under the platform of saving Pennsylvania's coral reefs, there's a good chance I might have voted for him.

I hope everyone registers to vote in a place they identify with and take the time to research the issues through the internet and other media. As Stephanie Simon, president of Penn Leads the Vote, put it, "The tools are at your fingertips to get informed."

That way we can increase the number of votes based on information rather than votes based on stickers.

Collin Beck is a College senior from Minot, ND. His e-mail is beck@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Dakota Kid appears alternating Thursdays.

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