Youth Radio - Topic: Politics

The Shifting Beliefs Of New Hampshire Young Voters

denise — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:41:14 -0600

Since the general election in 1998, youth voters (18-34) in New Hampshire have been more active than their peers around the country. In fact, according to a recent study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the youth turnout in New Hampshire reached an impressive 43% percent in 2008.

University of New Hampshire Political Science Professor Dante Scala tracks voting behavior, and has been watching the role young voters in New Hampshire, especially young conservatives, will play in the primary.

Professor Dante Scala: When I started teaching back in 2000, if you were young and conservative and a bit rebellious, you were probably looking at John McCain. He was seen back then as this maverick Republican who wanted to fight the establishment and so forth. Now, 12 years later, John McCain is supporting Mitt Romney who is an establishment figure, so if you’re young and conservative and rebellious, you’re likely now looking at Ron Paul as your candidate. It’s rather stunning that as clearly the oldest candidate (and he looks the oldest of the candidates), again and again (Ron Paul) appeals to the youngest voters. The younger you are in New Hampshire, if you’re going to vote in the Republican primaries, the more likely you are to vote for Ron Paul, but people Ron Paul’s own age are probably least likely.

DS:My sense from college students, (is that) their libertarianism does cross over to social issues and that’s especially true with the drug war, and that’s especially true with legalization of drugs. (For example) you find...younger evangelicals much less likely to be doctrinaire and opposed to say, gay marriage, as opposed to their parents and grandparents. For young people, being conservative today is more about liberty.

Q:Is there anything else that you think is especially interesting...that young conservatives are looking for in your research?

DS:My overall sense is that young people are looking for....a much more bare bones type of conservatism. It doesn’t seem to be mixed up a lot with social conservatism. It doesn’t seem to be mixed up with national security issues. It’s more about libertarianism and creating some space for themselves, some liberty for themselves at home.

Professor Dante Scala was interviewed by Ike Sriskandarajah in New Hampshire. Find more of that interview below.

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To hear more about young conservatives from Youth Radio's Election Desk, check out our coverage from Iowa here.

Why Young Liberals, Like Me, Will Vote Ron Paul

rgee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:38:20 -0600

By Jacqueline Cuddeback, Turnstyle News

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- I’ve lived in Iowa my whole life, and as a senior political science major at Coe College, I understand the importance of being politically active. But the moves made recently by President Obama and Congress, coupled with some of the outrageous statements made by mainstream Republican candidates, have me nervous as the Iowa caucus fast approaches; whom can I vote for? Not a president who believes it is OK to assassinate American citizens overseas, or a president who would repeal all of the progress made to protect the environment and the rights of gays. Third party? Or just don’t vote – a show of no confidence, like the Occupy Movement was doing? Then I realized there was a third option.

I worried about breaking the news to my friend Reid, a hard core liberal. “Don’t be mad at me,” I told him, “but I’m afraid I have to vote Republican this coming election.” “Me too,” said Reid. “I’m sure not voting for Obama -- I’m voting Ron Paul.” My jaw dropped.

Reid said that although he supported Obama in 2008, he has followed the Texas Congressman for years. He was the only candidate he felt hadn’t lied to us and has the voting record to prove it. “And I’m sorry, I don’t want to be declared a terrorist and ‘disappear’ in the middle of the night,” Reid said. Reid and I had been involved in the Occupy Cedar Rapids movement together, me silently documenting, him actively participating. I knew he was angry about Obama’s new budget plan. I just never expected him to lean Republican.

Reid demonstrates what John Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard’s Institute for Politics, told Turnstyle about our generation. This election season, the so-called 18 - 29 year-old Millennials are up for grabs, and Ron Paul has all the right moves. We might align with liberal ideas on paper, but in Iowa, the earliest state in the nation to caucus for presidential candidates, it’s Ron Paul who will get young voters out of the house to caucus in sub-freezing weather. “There is a chord clearly that Ron Paul is striking with young people,” said Volpe. “It’s just his incredible authenticity, and a focus on this libertarian, independent streak that young people have always had. And he’s also putting an effort behind it.”

Professor Dianne Bystrom at Iowa State University witnessed the energy for Ron Paul first-hand. She teaches a Campaign Rhetoric class every four years to coincide with the presidential elections. On December 8, she attended a Ron Paul event on campus with over 1,000 attendees. “It started at 7 o’clock, but people were standing in line at 6, almost like a rock concert,” Bystrom said. “It was a pretty raucous crowd because they were packed in. Afterwards students were waiting in line to take pictures with him.”

Sarah Banowetz, 29, is astonished by the way Ron Paul has captured the attention of her 20-year-old brother. “He doesn’t care about anything, but he’s totally all for Ron Paul,” said Banowetz. “Whether Ron Paul wins or not, it’s been really cool to watch my brother learn about stuff and really take an interest.”

So why do Millennials go for Ron Paul? Bystrom said it could be the 76-year-old’s grandfatherly age and appearance. But it’s also his politics.

My father and I have never agreed when it comes to politics. According to him, I’ve been brainwashed by my liberal arts education; and I think he’s stuck in the politics of a time long passed. I mean, I’m the political science student, right? Shouldn’t I know what’s going on in the world today? I remember being thrilled in 2008 when I attended the Democratic caucus despite the fact that my parents were attending the Republican one; I found I had a lot of friends in the same situation. Now, in 2012, we may be voting in the same place. I can’t help but groan – times are changing.

And change is exactly what people my age are looking for.

Turnstyle spoke with Angel Williams, 25, who went looking for change at a Ron Paul rally. After the event, she no longer had any reservations about voting for him. Meanwhile, she had nothing but reservations for Obama, her 2008 choice. His presidency, “just wasn’t what I expected.” Paul represents dramatic change for young people, according to both Volpe and Bystrom. The first thing many young people see is an anti-war candidate. “For many young voters, the war in Iraq has been going on for most of their lifetime,” Bystrom said. “While older Republicans are wary of Ron Paul’s isolationist policies, they appeal to young voters.”

“At first the foreign policy caught me like everyone else,” said 18-year-old Ian Hollinger, “But to be honest, when you hear him speak, I don’t have any more reservations.” Hollinger, a student at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City, said he also talks a lot about Paul’s economic policy when he volunteers for the campaign. “The whole idea that you don’t need to spend trillions of dollars to run a government really appeals to me,” he said.

But the students at Iowa’s 64 colleges and universities are still on winter vacation. Will they show up to caucus for Paul?

Volpe says yes -- there may even be more support for Paul than is showing up in the polls. “I feel that Ron Paul is potentially flying under the radar in a way frankly, that Barack Obama was flying under the radar four years ago,” he said.

Paul might also be underestimated due to the fact that the Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register, surveyed a pool that was 69 percent men and 31 percent women. According to Bystrom, women attend caucuses in larger proportions than men do--and are big Ron Paul supporters. “He’s the only candidate with a big gender gap,” said Bystrom.

The question is: do young people and women give Ron Paul the edge he needs to win in Iowa? And if he does win, could the momentum carry over to the rest of the country?

Here in Iowa, we are proud to hold the first caucus -- proud to help decide which candidate has a chance at winning the presidency. I mean, what else do we have to be proud of except cornfields as far as the eye can see? Yet even here, my experiences show that this year a lot of young people are indifferent; otherwise, they’re supporting Paul. GOP members have said that if Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucus, and loses the party nomination, the Iowa caucuses may lose their legitimacy -- especially if many who caucused for Ron Paul end up voting Democratic in the general election.

And according to Della Volpe’s Harvard poll, Millennials nationwide would still vote for Obama over a Republican candidate. But at least among my friends, change from the status quo is essential, and it’s no longer under Obama’s banner.

If Paul doesn’t get the Republican nomination, many of us will either take our vote to another party or not vote at all. Della Volpe told Turnstyle, “I think it’s a tremendous mistake for members of the Democratic party to take young people for granted. There’s nothing to believe that young people won’t continue to show this independent streak and continue to think and evaluate and question the role of party and the effect that they have on selecting candidates.”

After all, we’re still up for grabs. I’m realizing Ron Paul is the only candidate I could accept; none of the others represent me. So what do I do if he doesn’t win the nomination? I feel like many of my friends, and people in my generation, are asking the same question. Party politics don’t matter to us; we want a candidate that will represent us and will act in our interest. If not Ron Paul, then who?

Robyn Gee contributed reporting and editing to this story.

Politically Inactive No More

denise — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:34:27 -0600

The following originally aired on KCBS

By: Bianca Brooks

I often read “Democracy” means “rule of the people.” Yet, with all the political corruption and manipulation I’ve noticed in the last few years, the definition is often lost on me. I sometimes think a better meaning would be “people cower to government rule.”

But my mind is changing. In the last year I’ve seen these changes while watching young people protest the shootings of Oscar Grant and Mark Duggan, and the youth in Libya and Egypt make historic demands for new government.

Whenever I report about injustice or hand out voter registration forms I feel like I’m a part of this progression.

It’s clear to me now that we’re not asking for nations with justice or nations with liberty. We’re demanding a world with both. We’re all guaranteed rights and freedoms that shouldn’t be compromised for the interests of people in power. And I’m so proud to be a part of a generation that’s showing the world that the “rule of the people” still applies.

Online Youth Are More Politically Active

denise — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:30:32 -0600

By Denise Tejada

We’ve heard several times that youth who spend a lot of hours online could become socially isolated, but according to a recent study by the MacArthur Foundation and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning, the opposite is true. The new study found that youth who spend more time online are more likely to be more engaged in civic and political issues.

The study surveyed more than 2,500 youth and more than 400 youth were followed for 3.5 years. The study focuses on three types of behavior: politically-driven online participation, online exposure to diverse perspectives, and interest-driven online participation. The study concludes:

“Youth engagement in interest-driven online communities was associated with increased volunteer and charity work and increased work with others on community issues. The Internet can serve as a gateway to online and offline civic and political engagement, including volunteerism, community problem-solving, and protest activity.”

The study looked at how youth used blogs or social networking sites to share or discuss perspectives on social and political issues, how youth use the Internet to get information about political or social issues, and how email is used to communicate with others who are working on political or social issues.

The study also found that youth who are exposed to media literacy are more likely to be exposed to diverse perspectives.

Youth Political Energy Is High As Elections Approach

rgee — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:17:15 -0500

The November elections are just around the corner. According to Bakari Kitwana of the Huffington Post, the 18 - 29 age demographic will be extremely important once again. However, he makes the argument, “Over the last two years President Barack Obama did not fulfill his campaign commitments to the 14 million plus young voters so crucial to his 2008 victory.”

He explains that the youth sent Obama to the White House to make change happen, and now they have to decide if he’s done enough. Are the changes to health care, student loans, the economy, and the war in Iraq big enough signs of change?

While we can’t predict which way the elections will go, we can see the political energy still surging through young people around the country.

The College Republicans National Committee (CRNC) has been actively recruiting new Republican voters. “We’ve put field representatives in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to work with the local college representatives to recruit, train, and engage college students for statewide victory purposes,” said Rob Lockwood, Communications Director for the CRNC.

Lockwood said they focused their recruiting efforts in these battleground states and have succeeded in recruiting 25,200 new college Republicans in these states alone. He said young voters are especially important to this election. “It’s been proven that the college years are the most formative in shaping a political opinion. Because young people voted in record numbers in 2008, it’s important to get them to the polls again. We believe young people voted for the power of personality in 2008. They were energized. They voted for hope and change. However, neither of those has been implemented. The only change they got is massive debt on their tab, in exchange for short term political gain,” said Lockwood.

Likewise, the College Democrats of America (CDA) are busy recruiting young people to vote. Alejandra Salinas, President of the CDA said they have targeted certain states. “In Texas, we only had eight chapters last year. This year we have 45,” she said. She also cited the numbers of young voters in 2008 as a powerful sign. “We all learned in 2008 that the power is with the people who show up to vote. We elected democratic people who stood up for student rights issues such as credit card reform, health care reform, and student loan reform. These changes have improved the lives of young people across the country,” she said.

Salinas said the CDA is focusing on conveying the message that the Democrats have fulfilled their promises. “The Democrats have delivered on hope and change and we have to make sure that message has been communicated. If we get the message out, young people will be convinced that they need to get back out there and vote.”

In order to convey their message, the CRNC created a website called ourtab.org, with the slogan, "Don't Put It On Our Tab," which is a visualization of the national debt growing. “It has been extremely effective and gotten lots of positive response. It’s an initiative to inform young voters,” said Lockwood. He explained that the Republicans are running on a platform of financial efficiency, conservancy, and transparency.

“In 2008, the administration added 5 trillion dollars to the national debt. Young people are realizing that they are in danger of picking up the debt. If they cannot find work, they can’t pay off their debt. We need financial reform,” said Lockwood.

Meanwhile, organizations like The League of Young Voters and Rock the Vote are busy making sure that young people stay involved in politics.

Rock the Vote posted on its blog, “With the passage of voter registration deadlines in over 26 states across the nation, Rock the Vote surpassed its goal for registering young voters this fall. As of Oct. 4, Rock the Vote more than 225,000 individuals have used Rock the Vote’s tool to register to vote in the Nov. 2 midterm elections. This figure exceeded our 2010 goal of 200,000 registrations, more than quadrupled the number of registrations processed in 2006, and represents the largest midterm registration effort in our organization’s history.”

The League of Young Voters Education Fund kicked off the BET Hip-Hop Awards with an event called, “IGNITE 2010: From the Blogs to the Blocks.” This event was to discuss the role of new media and hip hop has to play in the important youth issues.

Obama Holds Youth Town Hall On MTV, BET, CMT

rgee — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:04:42 -0500

This Thursday, President Barack Obama will hold a town hall discussion with 250 young people in Washington D.C. The discussion, called “A Conversation With President Obama,” will air on MTV, BET, CMT, Tf3s, mtvU and Centric, according to MTV.com.

Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman announced in a statement, "We know that America's youth hold strong views about the challenges our country faces as well as their own aspirations for the future. We are honored that the President has chosen to appear on our cable networks to continue his dialogue with the nation's young people."

The direct audience will be pre-selected to ensure that there are a wide range of political views and interests in the audience. Some critics, including Sunlen Miller on ABC News, say this takes away the authenticity of the conversation.

However, the conversation is meant to reach a much larger audience. The President will also be taking questions that he receives via Twitter. You can submit questions by using the hashtag “#ask”. MTV.com explains, “If you'd like to ask President Obama about how he plans to create jobs, you'd tweet "#askjobs" and then your question. If it's a question about education, you'd tweet "#askeducation."

The show will air live at 4 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. CT (and tape-delayed at 4 p.m. PT) on MTV, BET, CMT, mtvU, Centric and Tr3s. The show will also be made available on-demand 30 days after its initial airing.

MTV has a lively history with politics. The network has interviewed Bill Clinton, George Bush, Al Gore and others, always asking the untraditional questions. A few remarks might ring familiar. "If you had it to do over again, would you inhale?" was posed to presidential candidate Bill Clinton. According to MTV.com he replied, "Sure, if I could. I've tried before."

Others might remember when Sway Calloway interviewed Barack Obama back when he was a senator. Obama told Calloway, "I think passing a law about people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time. We should be focused on creating jobs, improving schools, getting heath care, dealing with the war in Iraq. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants." This Thursday's discussion aims to continue MTV's tradition of engaging young people in politics.

Chicago Teens Work Alongside School Leaders to Improve Technology Use in Schools

rgee — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:22:09 -0500

Originally produced by StudentSpeak producer, Ben Wolff.

StudentSpeak, a video series produced by Spotlight, goes behind the scenes to show how teens use digital media in their daily lives.

StudentSpeak Webisode 13 from Spotlight on Vimeo.

Previously on StudentSpeak, we watched teens use digital media to respond to neighborhood violence. In this webisode, we meet student leaders from the Mikva Challenge program who are also working on improving their own communities – by developing a platform to present to Chicago Public School leaders on incorporating technology in the classroom.

“Technology is changing the way that we live,” said Lisa, a 17-year-old from Chicago’s Harper High School and a member of Mikva’s Education Council. “We need to get prepared for the future. We need to know how to work these new things. We need to know how to communicate.”

The Mikva program challenges Chicago high school students to become civic leaders by getting involved in creating change in their own communities.
Lisa and a group of other teen leaders from around the city spent the summer interviewing Chicago teachers, administrators and students to get suggestions about how digital media can be better used in Chicago schools to improve teaching and learning.

One of their first stops was YOUmedia, a 21st-century learning lab at the Harold Washington Library. [Read more on plans to expand YOUmedia in Chicago and nationally.]
“We’re looking to change policy around technology and education,” said Jessica Gingold, Mikva’s Education Council program coordinator. “And YOUmedia students are really the practitioners. They’re the ones who are experts in using technology and have experienced what using technology has done for their lives.”

At YOUmedia, the Mikva students received training in the latest digital media technology. They also saw examples of student work, and got lots of ideas about how YOUmedia teens would like to see technology better integrated into their own high school classrooms – some examples include: community service credit for a video project on neighborhood redevelopment; more teacher training; and using Skype to attend classes not offered at one’s own home school.

The Mikva teens produced a white paper with their top recommendations for how to better incorporate 21st-century technology into high school classrooms. [Watch this video Mikva students made about their work.]

Spotlight magazine showcases the projects and people funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative and covers the intersections of technology and learning.The MacArthur Foundation also provides funding for Youth Radio.

Politician In India Wants Youth On His Side

rgee — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:58:35 -0500

Politicians are always trying to find the demographics that they appeal to and gain their support. One politician in India is calling on the youth to support him, and in doing so, is drawing attention to the youth movement in India.

Rahul Gandhi, a young Indian politician who is the Congress party general secretary, is gaining recognition as a youth leader in India for his recent political moves. According to the New York Times, "Mr. Gandhi traverses the country, often on secret trips, to recruit as many as 10 million new youth members." Gandhi is the great grandson of the first prime minister of India, and is under 40 years old.

In September, he held trainings for over 400 youth in Punjab in the hopes that they will be able to, “Supervise proper implementation of the central government’s schemes and to curb corruption,” reports the Thaindian News. This project is called, “Aam Admi Ka Sipahi’ (AAKS - soldier of the common man).”

According to the article, Gandhi has taken special interest in the Youth Congress in Punjab, and wants to make it the model for all other youth congresses in India. He personally supervised the elections of the Youth Congress in Punjab. Wikipedia sources cite that his interest in the Indian Youth Congress began in 2008 when he held interviews to choose 40 people to be on the think-tank of the IYC. According to the New York Times, Gandhi is switching up the people who oversee party youth organizations. "He has hired a nonprofit group of former election commissioners to oversee the internal elections for posts in the party youth organizations — as opposed to the usual practice of party bosses picking their choices," reports the Times.

An Indian youth media organization called Youth Ki Awaaz wrote a blog entry about the growing momentum for youth politics and activism. Blogger Tarusha Mittal wrote, “Rahul Gandhi, recently, started a recruitment drive for the Youth, as well as, the mainstream Congress party. There are various internships and competitions which aim at recruiting from among the new talent, youngsters who are aware of their bearings and are working hard to impel their career forward. The perspective that the youth are ignorant is a biased view and there are exceptions to every rule.”

Youth Ki Awaaz, "the mouthpiece for youth," was founded in 2008, around the same time that Gandhi took a pointed interest in the Indian Youth Congress. These events together demonstrate the crescendo of the Indian youth voice. The website of Youth Ki Awaaz reads: Founded in March 2008, Youth Ki Awaaz has fast emerged as India’s number 1 youth centric views website... Youth Ki Awaaz is the most prolific blog around presenting honest youth views on important local, national and international issues.

Australian Government Takes Youth Seriously

rgee — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:48:18 -0500

Young people in Western Australia have something we do not. The Western Australian Youth Parliament is in its 15th year, and recently elected Thomas Williams as the 2010 - 2011 Youth Premier. This is not just a place where young people pretend to debate and make rules. The Youth Parliament discusses bills that cover topics such as daylight savings, sexual health, housing affordability, environmental responsibility, water provision, education, juvenile justice, entertainment precinct curfews, youth-based decision making, learner driver laws, and many many more, according to the organization's website.

Once the bills leave the Youth Parliament, they are passed on to the members of government and the governor of Western Australia for consideration. The website encourages young people to apply, “You definitely don't have to have a degree in Politics to participate, you just need to be passionate about youth issues and willing to share your opinions.” There are ninety spots available for young people between the ages of 15 - 25.

As of 2010, participation in the Youth Parliament counts towards graduating from high school. “It's great to be able to get young people involved in the political system at a reasonably young age,” said Cara Minchin, Media Coordinator for the Youth Parliament Task Force. “I believe it's also really important to get young people excited about the Democratic system which has made Australia so socially and economically prosperous.”

The YMCA of Perth, in conjunction with the Western Australian government run the Youth Parliament. “I believe the Western Australian Youth Parliament has benefited the larger population,” said Minchin. “We have a lot of young community leaders come to the program who are then able to take the skills they've learned at Youth Parliament back to their communities and make a difference.”

As for the upcoming year, Williams plans to, “tackle the new stop and search laws as well as youth unemployment. He also aims to work closely with members from both sides of the chamber to ensure all views are heard," according to the YP website.

Marijuana Commentary

cabusaba — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:42:58 -0500

Today is an exciting time for marijuana, for its very history in America, if not the world may be close to change. People have appreciated this plant ever since its mind altering affects were discovered, while others despise the weed. The majority of nay sayers simply believe that marijuana is morally wrong, but to some sheltered societies it is no different from meth and crack. This simple genus of plant has made more than a few names for itself as the most commonly used recreational drug in the world, probably because it’s non-fatal. Institutions for cannabis have been appearing all over the country, and have even found a place in medical facilities. Recent events have made America wonder, how long it will be until dope becomes a mainstream pharmaceutical?
There isn’t definite answer to that, but there is no doubt it is on its way to legalization. In many ways it already is; people with legitimate medical conditions are allowed to legally smoke, or otherwise consume marijuana. On the other hand, most consumers of legal weed are scammers of the system. People who want access to a law abiding source have found medical marijuana, which brings up another question: what is there to lose in making it legal? The country as a whole could benefit from decriminalization. For instance, jails would no longer be filled with small time drug busts. Stores selling this product could turn potential drug money into what our economy needs. However, taking dope out of the streets would just make room for more deadly poisons. America may not be ready to allow marijuana into its stores, but if one state gives in the rest may follow suit.
At this point, I wonder why marijuana remains against the law when one can go to CVS or Wal-Mart and buy a little orange bottle filled to the brim with pills, side effects, and death. Too much of anything isn’t good, and it isn’t impossible to overdose on marijuana. However, doing so would take an unrealistic amount, and taking that in at once would be just as hard as acquiring it. Side effects of reefer exist, but pale in comparison to those of other drugs. The worst that comes from heavy pot abuse is temporary, and most ‘potheads’ tend to avoid senseless aggression. If it were to become an accepted part of America, killer prescriptions would be quickly replaced, and less violent conflicts would erupt. If marijuana were as available as alcohol, a lot of good could come from it. Maybe America isn’t quite ready for the newest drug craze; however, in California weed is following the same road that once carried alcohol. Decades from now, people will reminisce about the prohibition and laugh at our silly laws.