Reznet

Mixed Bag: Campus Reaction to Democratic Convention

By Tileena Leighton, Tess Brinkerhoff and Amanda Teller

With the anxiety of the first week of classes and the hustle and bustle of college life, students across the country are having mixed reactions to the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama and the U.S. presidential race.

"To some degree it seems different because he is a minority," said University of Idaho senior James Holt. "He has done a good job at being a candidate for change. I know he has mentioned some specific Native issues like economic stability on the reservations, and he understands that this is a federal responsibility to take care of it."

Holt was one of several Native students interviewed by reznet reporters at UI, at Northern Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., during the Democratic convention.

Holt said he is conscious of the political events around him, saying that Obama seems to be very popular with Native American students on the UI campus. Holt also added that there is a lot of discussion around school and that students seem to care a lot more.

Campaign '08 posters decorate the walls of the university's Native American Student Center, and Holt says student groups are rallying behind Obama. This election is surely more noticeable to some, but others still do not sense a difference.

UI senior Jonathan Kane, says he has too much going on right now to have noticed anything different on campus.

"I do know that it is going on, but I really don't have time right now to stop and notice anything different about the atmosphere on campus," Kane said.

Some professors are using convention speeches as class examples, said Kane, and a small poster may be seen on a random bulletin board, but if one did not know the convention was taking place, they may not find out from UI campus activities.

For some students at Northern Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, this is their first year they have actually paid attention to a presidential election.

"I think if Obama becomes president it will show change in the world, you know, it will prove that it's not all about color anymore," said Alta Smith, an 18-year-old Cherokee student at NIC. She said that opinions about the presidential candidates are flying around campus, discussions of whom to vote for and who they like and why.

"Obama has a lot of bad things about him that I don't want to associate with our president," said Tiffany Mayne, a 19-year-old student at NIC who is of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. "If we vote him in he will be another Bill Clinton in office. Obama financially supports a white racist church, and I don't see how we can be OK with our president doing that."

Although the Democratic National Convention has been at the peak of national news in the past week, there is a lack of interest in the Native community at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz.

"It's hard to say, but from my experience, American Indian students are not as interested in the broader elections," said Charles Colbert, a Muskogee Native from Oklahoma and coordinator for Native American Affairs for the Maricopa Community College. "They are probably not as involved as they should be."

Colbert believes the reason behind the disinterest in the 2008 elections comes down to lack of knowledge.

"We don't care what's going on out there," Colbert said. "All we know is that there's going to be another president. Nothing will ever really change."

Kateri Guy, a 23-year-old Navajo student from Window Rock, Ariz., admits to being one of the few young adults interested in the elections. "The younger generation doesn't care."

Although Guy is a registered voter, she is still uncertain which candidate will grab her vote in November.

Tileena Leighton, Nez Perce, is a senior at the University of Idaho majoring in journalism and will graduating in the fall. Tess Brinkerhoff, Athabascan, is a freshman at Northern Idaho College majoring in journalism and business administration. Amanda Teller, Navajo, attends Arizona State University and is majoring in communications and journalism.