On Nov. 8, we must fight the ‘apathy myth’
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 30, 1994 9:00 p.m.
There are eight days left.
Eight days, that is, until the state elections on Tuesday, Nov.
8.
Over these next eight days, the Daily Bruin will devote much of
its space to keeping the UCLA community informed of the election
issues and to providing forum space within the pages of
Viewpoint.
We’ll focus especially on higher education  and how these
issues can affect the lives of university and campus community
members.
Earlier this quarter, undergraduate external vice president York
Chang was quoted in The Bruin as saying that past state elections
have been decided by as few as 100,000 votes. With 163,700
potential student voters in the UC system, we’re part of a powerful
demographic group  with, theoretically, the power to sway an
entire election.
The problem is, not everyone votes. Not everyone gets
involved.
The media often categorizes members of the 18-24-year-old age
bracket as the apathetic "slacker" generation. With the budget in
its current state, that’s an easy characterization to make.
Many students work to pay for school, and most either don’t take
the initiative or don’t have the time to organize and protest and
demonstrate on their own. For nonstudents, it’s the same. With the
state’s current economic constraints, working for personal gain is
more important, and necessarily so. Simply put, we’re not as
visible in our activism.
So, in some ways, the apathy myth still stands. But we as a
group have the power to change it.
What’s not a myth is that in this academic quarter alone, more
than 5,000 UCLA students registered to vote for the Nov. 8
election. Throughout the UC system as well, more than 20,000
students registered. And on campus, even in the past few weeks,
we’ve seen hundreds of students mobilize and demonstrate to let
their voices be heard on the election issues that concern them.
So despite what the media or anyone else says, we as a
university community must not internalize these notions of apathy.
We must challenge the apathy myth, and we must refuse to allow it
to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Over these next eight days, we have the opportunity to make
several very important choices.
They’re important choices because who the governor is affects
our education. Who’s in the Senate affects our education. If Prop.
187 passes, it will affect our education.
And we have the right to make those decisions.
Over the next eight days, make a commitment to learning the
issues for yourself, if you haven’t already.
If nothing else, the campaigns so far have been characterized
with dirty politics. Bickering and fingerpointing rarely educates
anyone on the issues  its aim is only to influence you who to
vote for.
So before you enter the polls, educate yourself. Don’t just
watch the candidate-funded advertisements on television  read
the Los Angeles Times, read The Bruin, read anything to learn about
how the candidates’ policies on higher education could affect you.
Learn how the individual initiatives, if enacted, could affect your
education, your job and your life.
Learning the issues doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Going to
the polls to vote doesn’t take a lot of time, either.
We have eight days left.
Make the choice to get involved.
On Nov. 8, we must fight the ‘apathy myth’
