Spring Break
Vote and make a difference, panelists tell students
From staff reports
Issue date: 3/15/04 Section: News
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Community leaders and elected officials hammered away at that theme during a midday forum on civic engagement and the electoral process held March 4 on the College's Main Campus.
Among the panelists urging students to make themselves heard in this year's presidential race was Suzan Ravitz of Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern. She told her listeners to educate themselves on the issues and vote, warning that declining voter turnouts undermine democracy.
Apathy is the enemy, said state Rep. Richard Grucela (D-Northampton), emphasizing that every vote can make a difference. "You don't know the power you have -- you really don't."
Ann McManus, director of Second Harvest Food Bank, likened the audience in West Plaza to the American electorate. In a room of about 100, only about 15 would determine who wins in November, she said.
"It takes citizen participation to keep democracy strong," said Rep. Robert Freeman (D-Northampton).
"It only makes a difference if you make it so," Freeman said, recalling how as a youth he actively worked in Sen. George McGovern's 1972 campaign for the White House.
The president of the Easton branch of the NAACP, Walter Bright, spoke of his own motivation for voting by describing his brush with segregation when he was 17.
Though a serviceman willing to die for his country, Bright said, he was told he couldn't sit in the same section of a North Carolina movie theater with his fellow marines, who were white.
He felt betrayed by his country, and determined that no one else would have to endure such an insult, Bright said. He urged his listeners to become active participants in their democracy by registering, researching the issues and candidates -- and voting.
Issues including healthcare dominated the forum. Healthcare is important because 35 million to 40 million Americans don't have health coverage, which is a crime, Freeman said.
Lehigh County Executive Jane Ervin posed several questions for the candidates, including children's issues, the loss of jobs overseas and prisoner rehabilitation. "If you are going to be tough on crime, then who will pay for the prisoners in jail?" she asked.
Also needing to be addressed are the concerns of an aging population, including Social Security, she said. "What happens when the baby boomers retire?"
The College's Political Science department presented the forum, made possible through a grant from the Pennsylvania Campus Compact and the Pew Charitable Trust.