Students can make difference by voting
COMMENTARY
Sarah McClellan

College students are not being represented properly in government — and it’s our own fault.

People in the 18-24 age group — a block of society that could sway the outcome of elections — seldom realize that their apathy results in disproportional representation.

Texans will elect a governor Nov. 5 — and the decision is important to students. This is our chance to choose where we stand on things that really matter that we haven’t paid enough attention to, such as environmental issues, and the subject that is the most important to us — funding for higher education.

Republican candidate Rick Perry’s Web site offers a plan to provide funding to develop programs that focus on “first generation” college students, initiatives to promote state work-study programs and education technology, and a state-supported loan program.

Democratic candidate Tony Sanchez’s web site boasts a program that involves a network of laboratory schools that will link all university and college systems to “create opportunities and solutions for our teachers and students.”

The Libertarian candidate, Jeff Daiell, has a different take on higher education. The party’s web site says that education should be privatized and not government-controlled because the poor condition of education in Texas today is due to government interference in our schools and colleges.

The Green Party, whose candidate is Rahul Mahajan, doesn’t offer much on education at its web site but does say that our education system “creates the caste system.” The antidote for this is lumped in with the party’s ideology of social justice.

Environmental issues are also — or should be — of great importance to students.

Perry’s environmental initiative is limited to a water resource plan, “to ensure Texas’ long term water supply needs.”

Sanchez’s environmental policy includes a list of 10 cleaner air proposals.

The Libertarian party’s environmental stance is that environmental problems, including air and water pollution are a result of the lack of private property rights in the air and water.

The party calls for implementation of property rights and opposes the creation of new government parks or public recreation areas. It also calls for sale of existing ones, with the proceeds going to taxpayers.

The Green Party, which was started because of the environmental movement of the 70s, promotes “using the Earth’s resources wisely and respectfully, realizing the delicate balance of nature.” This includes using tools society does not use, such as renewable energies, sustainable agriculture, better mass transportation and using biotechnology “in a responsible and accountable manner.”

These are only some of the candidates running. Their web sites offer information on all of their political stances, which makes it so easy and quick to figure out which candidate fits your political criteria that there’s no excuse not to do a little research and vote.

Sarah McClellan is a senior political science major from Canyon. She can be reached at (s.l.mcclellan@tcu.edu).