By Gabrielle Herrera
Pulse Staff Reporter
Affordable healthcare, low wages and the high cost of higher education make up just a few of the issues politicians are confronting this Nov. 4 election.
Most of what is being debated will have a direct impact on today’s youth, whether in the near or distant future, but only 58.5 percent of young adults, ages 18 to 24, are considered active voters in America. In this upcoming election on Nov. 4, candidates face off in issues and voters will decide whom to support.
“Even though I’m a registered voter, I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know who is running and what problems are at stake,” said Kenny Martin, a Liberal Arts major at Palo Alto College. “I need to research this election and the candidates so I could be more involved as a voter.”
Eloisa Cordova, a certified adviser in the Office of Student Engagement & Retention, said that the youth of today perceives involvement in politics as a thing of the past.
“They don’t have a correlation to the past and see an issue’s history (referring to Civil Rights Movement). The youth right now doesn’t relate to the past where they were fighting for social justice,” said Cordova.
Gubernatorial candidates Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott recently squared-off in two debates.
Abbott defended the Texas Legislature’s $5.4 billion budget cuts in education during the 2011 Legislative Session. Abbott has a detailed agenda on making Texas number one in the nation for educating children. He plans to increase standardized tests offering incentives for good results. Abbott also plans to expand partnerships between public schools and trade schools.
Davis filibustered the 2011 budget bill and followed it by sponsoring legislation to restore $3.4 billion to the state budget for Texas education. She supports universal pre-K as well as reducing the number of standardized tests. Her plan for college students is mainly to make a higher education more affordable while giving equal opportunity to all students of Texas.
Other candidates and positions besides governor are up for election. Who will represent you as a citizen of Bexar County? Of San Antoni0? Of the South Side?
Educating yourself about your representatives is nothing more than a simple Google search away. Votesmart.org can help you get the facts about who represents you.
On Sept. 23, 2014, PAC held a “Rock the Vote” event, where voter registration took place.
“MOVE stands for mobilize, organize, vote, and empower. We aim to engage young adults in their local political process by increasing awareness for the issues and motivating them to go out to the polls and vote,” said Ariel Ivette Sepulveda, organizing director of MOVE San Antonio, the event sponsor. “We know that the South Side of San Antonio typically votes drastically lower than their neighbors. However, with an early polling site coming to Palo Alto’s campus this year between October 20 and October 31, we are expecting to see an increase in voter turnout.”
As Nov. 4 approaches, learn about candidates and what they stand for, become involved in the political process and most importantly, get out and vote! Lack of knowledge in politics only results in being misrepresented. The early polling site at Palo Alto College will take place in the Ozuna lobby. All that is needed is a photo I.D. and your voter registration card.
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