'Real World' celebs fail to rock voters
Greg Vandas
Issue date: 9/22/08 Section: News
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Only 14 of the nearly 300 available seats were filled at the beginning of MTV's presentation, forcing what was supposed to have been an excitement-inducing political extravaganza to become a "group discussion."
Since 1990, Rock the Vote has campaigned across the country to inform, register and mobilize newly-eligible voters for a variety of elections bringing movie stars and musical acts along for added appeal.
But even celebrities Rachel Braband and Alton Williams, from MTV's popular show "The Real World" who fronted the tour's UMKC stop, could not keep their audience entertained.
Many attendees said their truant classmates did not miss much.
"I thought the whole thing was organized very poorly, and the fact that they used people from 'The Real World' did not make it any better," sophomore Vladimir Kulish, said. "What do they know about politics?"
He also said the discussion was boring, the speakers were not well-rehearsed and the information was presented as if the audience consisted of elementary school children.
"They definitely did not encourage me to vote," Kulish said.
Nonetheless, the program enlightened students on the hottest issues of the upcoming 2008 presidential election and the candidates' respective policies for almost an hour.
With the election only 43 days away, disappointing turnouts like the one at Rock the Vote and opinions like Kulish's fuel some concern for UMKC's contribution to the all-important youth vote this November. Others point out not all hope is lost.
"I'll vote if they let me," said Ryan Nichols, a freshman studying Pre-Pharmacy. "And I'm going to vote for [United States Representative] Ron Paul. If he's not on the Missouri ticket, I will just have to write him in."
Furthermore, to Rock the Vote's credit, it claims to have registered tens of millions of 18 to 24-year-old voters during its lifespan and this year will be no different.
To the young people's credit, U.S. census data reports votes cast by the same age group have been increasing steadily since 1992, with a whopping 27 percent increase in the 2004 general election over the previous election in 2000.
Again, experts anticipate more of the same.
When asked what is motivating Nichols to go to the polls this year, he kept the same attitude Rock the Vote had been trying to profess.
"I'd like to make a difference," he said, "and I think voting makes that possible."
gvandas@unews.com
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