URI students shed light on presidential picks
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: News
02/06/08 - Yesterday marked Super Tuesday, when 23 states held their primary elections and caucuses for presidential nominees. Although Rhode Island's presidential primary is not until March 4, many URI students' home states held elections yesterday, including Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
"Super Tuesday is the closest we have to a national primary because 23 [states] will pick delegates to represent their candidates at the [party] convention," said Maureen Moakley, a political science professor at the University of Rhode Island.
"What's different about this election is the primaries and the process has gotten a lot more coverage," Moakley said. "We will probably have some of the highest turnouts."
She credited the use of media venues such as Youtube.com for motivating younger people to go out and vote. She stressed the importance of students being registered and knowing where to vote.
"Since 2004, participation involving young people has been higher - the highest since 1980," she explained. "We expect those trends to continue; that's a very good sign."
So, are students doing their civic duty? A sampling of URI students yesterday showed that many were unaware of yesterday's primaries.
Greg Olfky, a freshman from Boston, said he didn't know that his home state's primary was yesterday.
He said he has not yet registered to vote, but he plans to soon and will vote in November, despite feeling apathetic about politics.
His friend, Brian Veyera, a Rhode Island resident and Republican who was also unaware of Super Tuesday, said he's not inclined to vote for any of the Republican nominees.
"I don't agree with any of the candidates," he said. "But I'm still going to vote Republican no matter what."
The 18-year-old jokingly said that he intends to write in comedian Stephen Colbert on his ballot.
Sarah Sczepanksi, a registered Republican from Massachusetts, said she was knew her state's primary elections were yesterday, but she didn't request an absentee ballot.
"Super Tuesday is the closest we have to a national primary because 23 [states] will pick delegates to represent their candidates at the [party] convention," said Maureen Moakley, a political science professor at the University of Rhode Island.
"What's different about this election is the primaries and the process has gotten a lot more coverage," Moakley said. "We will probably have some of the highest turnouts."
She credited the use of media venues such as Youtube.com for motivating younger people to go out and vote. She stressed the importance of students being registered and knowing where to vote.
"Since 2004, participation involving young people has been higher - the highest since 1980," she explained. "We expect those trends to continue; that's a very good sign."
So, are students doing their civic duty? A sampling of URI students yesterday showed that many were unaware of yesterday's primaries.
Greg Olfky, a freshman from Boston, said he didn't know that his home state's primary was yesterday.
He said he has not yet registered to vote, but he plans to soon and will vote in November, despite feeling apathetic about politics.
His friend, Brian Veyera, a Rhode Island resident and Republican who was also unaware of Super Tuesday, said he's not inclined to vote for any of the Republican nominees.
"I don't agree with any of the candidates," he said. "But I'm still going to vote Republican no matter what."
The 18-year-old jokingly said that he intends to write in comedian Stephen Colbert on his ballot.
Sarah Sczepanksi, a registered Republican from Massachusetts, said she was knew her state's primary elections were yesterday, but she didn't request an absentee ballot.