Have you registered to vote and felt discouraged because you didn’t know whether to mark the “Republican” or “Democrat” box?
Were you upset because you didn’t want to choose a party, you just wanted to vote, and never thought it was so complicated?
Does the word “politics” send cold shivers down your spine, and did you skip the PSC section when choosing general studies classes because you knew that taking a political science class would mean automatic failure?
Does the word “politician” conjure mental pictures of a snarling, lying, evil creature?
So you absent-mindedly checked one of the boxes on your registration card and turned it in, vowing not to vote until you understood what voting is about.
“Besides,” you told yourself, “the government can do what it wants; it doesn’t affect my life.”
Then your classmate was shipped off to Iraq.
Your tuition was raised because the state cut the higher education budget and your college cannot afford to maintain the quality level that you expected.
Because you are a full-time student, you can only work part-time, and your job doesn’t offer health insurance to part-time employees.
You got sick because your busy work and school schedule was stressing you out.
Without insurance, the doctor visit and your prescriptions cost $150.
This makes you angry, because now that your tuition was raised, you can hardly afford a $150 doctor bill. If your car breaks down, you’re screwed.
You realize it’s important to pay attention to what the government is doing. Unlike what you thought, it is affecting you.
However, you still don’t know where to get information about politics – it’s all so complicated.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you just automatically knew how to participate in the voting process, where to get information about who’s running and what’s important to them (and, more importantly, how it will affect you), where to go when tuition increases, insurance problems, or other social issues anger you?
The Northerner published an article Feb. 18 that described a joint resolution proposed by Trey Grayson and Sen. Jack Westwood to create a summit at NKU to discuss the creation of a civic education program.
If successful, the summit could pave the way to better understanding of government among youth.
From a much earlier age, we would feel empowered to take part in our government because we wouldn’t have to sift through the less important questions like, “Am I a Republican or a Democrat?” (we would already know what that meant) and could focus on how to impact policy decisions that are important to us (like whether or not our tuition is raised).
I strongly encourage NKU students, faculty and staff to write to Sen. Westwood to show your support of this summit.
For more information about the resolution, surf