Cindi Buswell, Brittney Silewski, and Kathleen Grigg's blog enteries all talk about whether the students should affect Duluth's future. They also address students or even themselves who are unsure about whether they should vote because they may not even stay in Duluth. If students are going to move away in a year or two, should they be voting in the mayoral election which affects people who may be in Duluth for years to come.
Whether Charlie Bell or Don Ness will turn out to be the mayor in the city of Duluth is not known yet, but UMD students certainly acknowledge the coming of the mayoral election and have different opinions about it.
A number of students' blog entries address the same assumption about what action--or rather no action--the majority of UMD students would take in this local election: They do not plan to vote because Duluth is not their permanent home. Cindi’s blog and Kathleen Grigg’s not only confirm that the belief is true but also raise an important question and direct us to consider certain relevant political issues. Have the candidates done enough to motivate UMD students to vote? Unlike Cindi who sees students’ lack of political involvement as a challenge for the politicians, Grigg sees it as a chance to question the meaning of voting in our democratic society. Ali’s blog, however, reports that the assumption is merely a myth. UMD actually has a long history of getting students involved in politics. Also, there are some student political organizations that help students become an informed political participant.
If students decide not to vote or don't want to get involved with any political elections simply because they do not feel Duluth as their home, the way they think may not necessarily reveal their long-term, unchanged attitude toward politics. After all, it takes a lot of time for one to learn or understand what it means by being a responsible voter. If some UMD students are asked to read Hanson’s blog, they probably cannot decide whether they should embrace or reject the author’s political standpoint, but it does not mean that they can never do so after they graduate from UMD and continue to live in their home town.
College students have the potential to choose Duluth’s next mayor.
There are three mid-sized colleges in Duluth adding up to roughly 30,000 potential student votes. Who are these people going to vote for?
Lisa Kunkel, a UMD student and blogger believes that UMD students will not be a deciding factor during this fall’s election for two reasons. The first reason is that the students just don’t care about Duluth’s Mayor because they feel it has no effect on their lives. Her second reason is that a large percentage of the students feel uninformed on the issues.
Another UMD blogger, Kathleen Grigg, offers a different reason why she and other students may not be getting active in Duluth’s politics. She’s feels no connection to the city. She hails for Rapid City, S.D., lives in Superior WI., and goes to school in Duluth. She’s confused on where it would be appropriate for her to vote.
Contrary to the blogs mentioned above, Ali Draves, another UMD blogger states that UMD has 3,685 registered voters. She feels that UMD is a magnet for young activists, eager to play a role in their new city’s politics.
Whether or not college students vote, one thing is clear: come Election Day neither mayoral candidate will turn down a student vote. And should all college students in Duluth vote, it will be a major factor in deciding our next mayor.
With the upcoming mayoral elections days away I wanted to take a look at the new community in Duluth, college students, and their take on the elections. Cindi Buswell, Ali Draves and Amanda Daniels address the issues college students are concerned with in their blogs. Cindi Buswell and Ali Draves talk to students about whether or not they plan on voting and if they feel connected to the Duluth community. Amanda Daniels addresses what college students are interested in, for example housing issues and how the candidates weigh in.
Reading through the blogs of Lisa Kunkel, Kathleen Grigg and Cindi Buswell, you are enlightened to the fact that many college students don’t vote in local elections. These students talk about their own experiences and those of other students who say they don’t feel a need to vote in Duluth because it is not their hometown and don’t feel connected to this community.
I decided to look at three blogs that were different but yet had the same concern-student issues. Julia Davis' blog looked the war in Iraq and how it was affecting UMD students. Amanda Daniels focused on the two mayoral candidates (Charlie Bell and Don Ness) and how they were trying to connect with college students in Duluth. The third blog I looked at was, Dane Benson's. His blog focused on the much talked about student housing ordinance and how it was going to impact UMD students.
Lisa Kunkel's and Julia Davis' blogs says most college students are uninterested in the election and its issues. Dane Benson’s blog talks about the renting issue, an issue that has the potential to really affect the way students in Duluth live. A lengthy expose, he describes different aspects of the issue that clueless students should tune into because of the immediate impact on the students’ off-campus housing options. The moral of the story: be awesome to one another. Donna O’Neill’s blog looks at the housing issue, as well, focusing on the relationship between student renters, landlords and neighbors because DARR (a group of landlords) is looking for ways to fix issues in these relationships without the intervention of the city council.