Pitt and the president
September 24, 2008
What’s new in politics this week? Since the beginning of the school year, Pitt students have… What’s new in politics this week? Since the beginning of the school year, Pitt students have been asked to register to vote at their current college address by nonpartisan groups and political campaigns alike. With the election only a few weeks away, college students will be asked to decide what issues are most important. The Pitt Decides Focus Group sat down to discuss what issues students are most interested in and how campus organizations are encouraging student involvement in the election.’ What do students think? ‘I think the big thing on everybody’s mind is the upcoming debate on Friday. That’s going to tell a lot to us. I’m sure more people than they predicted are going to tune in, especially students. They don’t expect that sort of dedication on a Friday night, but clubs like College Republicans and College Democrats are going to have viewing parties the way we have had viewing parties for the Super Bowl.’ -Charlotte Bonilla ‘There have been many times in the past when students and people around our age, their vote didn’t really count, and now they’re calling us the ‘Millennials.’ They expect us to vote. They expect us to get involved, and I think that our vote will absolutely count in this election, and they will impact the future.’ -Carrie Weintraub ‘It’s our generation that is being sent off to fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It’s our generation that is not going to have Social Security. It probably won’t exist unless it gets completely reformed by the time we’re that age. We’re the generation that is coming out of college $120,000 or more in debt. We’re the generation that is affected by things, but people like to think that we’re just apathetic and not affected by any issues, and we are.’ -Lauren O’Leary ‘Our generation has been deemed ‘The Silent Generation’ at times when it comes to elections. And I think in the primaries it shocked everybody when we had such a high voter turnout. I think, going off that, that both candidates are relying on student support to help them out.’ -Megan Black