BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Hundreds of
young people, including many UCLA students, helped put on the
Democratic state convention in Los Angeles.
By Crystal Betz
Daily Bruin Contributor
With the primary elections being held Tuesday, many UCLA
students have been helping behind the scenes on various election
campaigns and with political groups to promote youth voting among
students.
“Most students are apathetic to the political process, few
care,” said Chey Tor, a third-year political science student
who is currently interning on the Bill Simon for Governor
campaign.
“It’s important to send a message out to students
without interest that voting does matter, and they can make a
difference,” he added.
Tor got involved in the Simon campaign through the Bruin
Republicans. His work on the campaign has allowed him to meet with
many public officials.
Currently, Tor is working on the campaign on an in-and-out
basis, doing whatever they need him to do, including passing out
flyers and making phone calls on behalf of the campaign.
Recently, Tor went to the California Republican Party Convention
in San Jose, where he got to meet with political officials and
students from other UC campuses.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum is Jonathan Gara,
a second-year history and political science student who is
currently working as an intern with the California Democratic
Party.
“I have always been fascinated with politics, and since
high school I have always volunteered to help,” says
Gara.
Gara works with the California Democratic Party 12 to 15 hours a
week, organizing voter registration drives, rallies and outreach
programs.
Through his internship, Gara attended the California Democratic
convention where he met Gray Davis and other public officials.
Along with Gara, 800 young people, many of them from schools
like UCLA, USC and Pepperdine volunteered their time to help out at
the democratic convention, said Art Torres, chairman of the
Democratic Party, during the convention.
While Gara may not agree with Tor on who should be elected as
our next governor, they both agree that it is critical that young
people vote.
“It’s important to vote, because if we don’t
representatives and candidates will ignore (young voters),”
says Gara. “Legislation concerning us will get ignored if we
don’t vote.”
While students are interning to help promote the message for
youth to vote, many campus organizations are doing the same.
Last week four campus organizations ““ the Bruin Democrats,
the Bruin Republicans, the Undergraduate Students Association
office of the external vice president and CALPIRG’s youth
vote coalition ““ joined together to hold Youth Vote, a voter
registration drive in Bruin Plaza.
“Just as it is important to promote increased voting
turnout among youth, it is equally important to turn out more
informed opinions to those polls,” said Simon Perng, chairman
of the Bruin Republicans.
Students can find election and campaign related links, as well
as a Bruin Republican voting guide on the group’s Web site,
all made in hopes of better educating students on candidates and
important issues.
In addition, the Bruin Democrats have also been working to
educate students on their positions in various issues and
propositions.
“The most important reason to vote is to be informed in
politics and to get your voice heard, said Katie Drake, President
of the Bruin Democrats. “Although voting can seem detached,
it does make a difference.”