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Students watch presidential debate

By Lindsay Anderson

USU students gathered in the TSC Sunburst Lounge Friday to watch this year’s first presidential debate.

USU for Obama provided pizza, cookies and soda pop for all who attended to watch Barack Obama and John McCain debate the topic of foreign policy and national security.

Jackson Olsen, executive vice president for ASUSU, said the event was important because it helps students get more involved with the political process.

“It’s important for students to come to these events because all too often students are complacent with being products of their environment. If they grow up in a Republican home, they just accept they are a Republican. If they grow up in a liberal, Democratic home, they accept that without question,” he said. “I love any time there is a political activity on campus that brings students from all walks of life together, so they can begin to identify themselves politically.”

While the topic was foreign policy and national security, Dana Rogers, sophomore majoring in family consumer and human development, said the debate frequently turned into a discussion of the current economic crisis.

Kathy Snyder, secretary of Cache Democrats, said the economy will play the biggest role in this election “not just because of the banking crisis and financial institutions, but because the economy is also being drug down by health care costs, an unfunded war, etc.”

Caitlyn Laughlin, president of the College Democrats said, “People don’t realize how much politics affect their lives sometimes. They say they don’t want to deal with it, but it has a direct impact on our lives, like with the economy, that’s a job market that we are going into and we want someone leading us who knows what the heck they are talking about.”

ASUSU, USU for Obama, and other campus political clubs and organizations have been registering students to vote, and have been raising awareness about this years election, and the difference the youth vote can make, Laughlin said.

“You have major political pundents and pollsters looking at the youth vote, and wondering how many are going to turn out, how we are going to vote, and how it is going to affect the election, and we can make a really big difference, and that hasn’t happened in a really long time,” Laughlin said.

Olsen said ASUSU set a goal to register 2500 USU students to vote, and with 11 days left for voter registration has already registered 2400.

“It is very gratifying getting our campus ready to vote,” Olsen said. “This is the first time many of these students will be voting in a presidential election. This election is not only historic for a many number of reasons, but also historic for many students on our campus as they launch the rest of their lives.”

USU students have until Friday Oct. 3 to register and can vote in early registration on campus Oct. 27 through Oct. 30 on the second floor of the TSC, Olsen said.

“This year is very very exciting for everybody. This has been a huge turnout, a warm reception of political activity on campus and I think its only going to get better as these last few weeks wind down before the election,” he said.

–lindsay.anderson@aggiemail.usu.edu