A wake-up call in college

Students would get more involved and vote if there were polling places on campus, one activist says.

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 7, 2000

Shawna Mulford

• 21
• University of South Florida/psychology
• Pushing them to the polls

[Times photos: Thomas M. Goethe] Shawna Mulford, left, who coordinated a voter regis tration drive at USF, talks to College Libertarian Erik Wilensky after a mock debate on the Tampa campus in October

A tireless participant in student government, Shawna Mulford wants her peers to get involved in real-world politics, too. The way to accomplish this is simple, she says.

Ask them.

On Wake-Up Wednesday this fall, all 10 state universities registered students to vote at tables set up in student unions. Some campuses struck up the band. Literally.

On that single day, 3,115 people registered to vote at USF, says Mulford.

"It doesn't matter who you vote for as long as you vote," she says. Publicly nonpartisan, Mulford says she will decide whom to vote for "five minutes before" she gets her ballot today.

Shawna Mulford, right, briefs participants James Culbert, left, and Lindsey Churchill before the mock debate at USF. Shawna's efforts included the debate and a voter registration drive that included door-to-door visits.

As director of student lobbying and the designated student liaison to the state Legislature, Mulford schedules her classes early or in the evenings to leave 9 to 5 open for her job.

This fall, she has also spent much of her time prodding students to get involved in local and national elections.

In addition to Wake-Up Wednesday, volunteers designed the REV campaign: register, educate and vote. They went door to door at the residence halls, providing voter registration forms and explaining how to obtain absentee ballots.

The reaction, she says, has been surprise, and gratitude.

"They didn't really understand the absentee process. They didn't really understand the issues. They knew who their parents were voting for," says Mulford. The personal visit, she says, made a difference.

Gen Y votes for 'none of the above' Young people 18 to 24 are one of the most disconnected groups of potential voters in the nation's history, experts say. The big question: how to get them to the polls. A wake-up call in college Shawna Mulford, 21, University of South Florida/psychology Pushing them to the polls Looking for a better way Mike Tucker, 22 Eckerd College/Environmental Studies Campaigning for his ideals Voting is the bottom line John Gehm, 20 St. Petersburg Junior College/Education Pitching the economics of youth

Once informed, students take stands on what affects them, she says: abortion, Supreme Court appointments, education and the affordability of college, affirmative action and equal rights.

Historically, low turnouts by young voters are "more time constraints than apathy."

"We're in class four to five hours a day. We're supposed to study two hours a day for each class, we have papers due, extracurricular activities -- and we're supposed to have a little bit of a social life."

The system could make it easier, she says. Most of those enrolled at USF are a two- to three-hour commute from home, and at least half must vote absentee because they are not registered in Hillsborough County.

"If every school was a polling place and every student could vote at their school, it would cure the low voter turnout," she says.

A little attention would help as well.

"The candidates need to not talk to the students, but talk with the students," she says. Young people bring a uniquely "honest, objective perspective" to the election.

"The students don't feel we're a waste of time."

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