When I typed in the words voting + college age people on google.com, one of the first sites that come up was a sociology website that spoke on the issue that most college aged adults from 18-24 do not vote. It was a question and answer section of the website. The girl was saying that many of the young people that she had interviewed said that politics was boring or that they weren't brought up in what you would consider a political household, or that they just didn't care.
She also said that as a politically-minded student, all of those excuses were difficult for her to understand. Finally, she asked if there were other, more subtle, sociological forces that may contribute to this lack of participation.
The person answering said that his best guess was that a lot of college age kids don't think that their vote matters. One of so many, how could it make a difference?
I agree with what both of these people had to say. Too many of our ancestors died so that we could the privilege to vote. If we don't vote it's like they died in vain. Remember, voting is a privilege, not a right.

I found an article about a college named Goshen College and how their students are active in getting their voices heard on the war. Some students organized a protest and marched with signs on the streets of Goshen, Indiana. There was one quote that I really liked in the article. It was quoted by a 22 year old Iraq war veteran named Liam Madden. He says that, " college-aged people are the forefront of social change." The reason why I liked this quote was because I believe that college-aged people can be the forefront of social change. They just need to take the initiative and get informed and involved. If only young people knew just how serious and important this issue is for everyone and how it directly is and will effect us and our children in the future, I think that more young people would be involved.
There are plenty of ways to get involved: protest, write to the officials, give money or volunteer for the candidates you think can help get us out of this mess, and most importantly, VOTE!
Above is a picture of the Towson University's college democrats protesting the war here on campus.

I stumbled upon a great blog by an Iraqi journalist. The blog is titled,"Inside Iraq", and the journalist works for McClatchy Newspapers. The stories are based in Baghdad and provinces that outline it. The blog entries are firsthand looks into a day in the life of an Iraqi. It really helps to paint a picture of what it is like for the Iraqi people. The blog that really stood out to me was one about the journalist's daughter who is attending a university in Iraq. He explained that he reluctantly lets her attend classes because many students are being abducted, shot when leaving the school buildings, and raped. One story that really touched me was one about a student that had been captured and handcuffed. They let him out right in front of a university as bait. When the unsuspecting students went out to help him they were all shot and killed on the spot. This story really made me think about college students in America and how much most of us take for granted. Here, where education is greatly looked upon, and knowledge is power, in Iraq it could cost a young person their life. I really implore all young people and students to appreciate the fact that we can go to college and not be fearful for our lives. I really recommend this blog entry to everyone. Please take time to read it.

Project Crisis!

In this blog, I will share some of my recent difficulties that I have been having with this project. A couple of weeks ago, I got my recording for my podcast. It was a pretty long one so I had a lot to work with. I also took a lot of pictures from the event where I got the podcast. All of the information that I had for my project was on my thumb drive because I had not yet had time to transfer any of it onto my laptop. Well, on the day that I was going to work on both the podcast and my pictures, I accidentally break my thumb drive while I was in my car. I was devastated because that was a lot of information that I had gathered and I did not know what I was going to do. Well, yesterday actually, I figured out that my podcast was still on my recorder in a file and the pictures had not been erased from the rental camera that I had rented to take the pictures! I was really excited that I have my information back and I understand that because I am so behind now with my work, that I have to work extra hard now. Thanks everyone for listening to me babble. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, please let me know!

When I went to the Republican Presidential Candidate debate held at Morgan State University a few weeks ago, I was able to get alot of really good pictures of the candidates and supporters. I plan to post them on my website as a part of my slide show presentation. I also have interviews and clips for my first podcast. I interviewed two young students of Morgan and they gave me their view on the issue of some of the Republican candidates not showing up.
Also, I am excited about the Iraq War Week of Action being held here on campus by the Towson University College Democrats. It will be a whole week, starting Monday, October 22nd, of anti-war activities and demonstrations. I could not have asked for a more perfect opportunity for pictures, podcast interviews, and quotes for my articles. Well, actually, I did ask. I made sure already with the president of the organization that I got all of those things for my project. This is also very perfect because my topic is specifically dealing with politics and college students. So what better way to get my research done than to get it from college students.
If you would like any information about the Towson University College Democrats and the Iraq War Week of Action, please visit this link or email them here.

I find that the transcripts of the Presidential Debates are very useful tools for my website. They help me get an idea of what each candidate stands for on specific issues. I also try to watch the debates as well so that I can see their facial expressions and mannerisms. I believe that they play a big part in how the audience should receive the candidate's messages.
I have also found a few good feature story examples written about my topic. I have one written by author Rick Cohen, one written about Mike Huckabee, etc.
I hope to learn from these stories and work on my feature writing skills for the articles on my website.

This past Thursday I went to Morgan State University to witness the Republican Presidential Debate moderated by Tavis Smiley. The whole thing was very interesting. I knew that this was going to be a perfect opportunity for me to get some valuable information about what each candidate stood for. Because I am a Democrat myself, I thought that it was very important for me to attend this forum so that I can better understand the "other side."
When I went in, it was packed. The tickets had sold out within 30 minutes. The stage was pretty big with a huge sign in the back that read ALL-AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL FORUMS on PBS MODERATED by TAVIS SMILEY. The podiums were spread out in the middle of the stage.
There were some things that I agreed with the candidates on, such as, when Ron Paul said that there were no weapons of Mass Destuction and there never was and how we need to get the troops out. But there were also things that I did not agree with, such as, on the issue of health care, Tancredo said that we should be our own health care system, by taking care of ourselves in a way that we would'nt even need health care. And I say, what about the poor people who can't afford to buy healthy fruits and veggies? What about the people who are born with certain illnesses beyond their control...etc.
All in all, I had a good experience while I was there and I came out of there knowing more about their positions than ever.
If you missed the debate, here is a transcript of the whole forum, and if you do not want to read it, then there is a video and a podcast of it on this site as well.