Scott BresslerWashington University Students came out to vote yesterday in the presidential primaries at polling stations on Trinity Ave., Our Lady of Lourdes on Northmoor Dr. and-for the first time-on the South 40.
Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) split several key races across the country with Obama faring especially well in the Midwestern and Mountain states and Clinton in the Western and Northeastern states. Senator John McCain won a plurality of Republican primaries, though both of his leading competitors won victories around the nation.
Students said that the new polling stations on the South 40 made voting easy and convenient.
“It’s good because it’s so accessible,” said Student Union (SU) President Neil Patel. “Students just have to walk a short distance to get there. Because it’s visible it’s going to have an impact. It becomes part of the community.”
The station on the South 40 was one of several efforts by student groups and the administration to encourage students to vote.
Another service available to students for the first time this year was a shuttle service transporting them from Mallinckrodt to polling stations near campus. The shuttles were organized in part by the administration and paid for by a Student Union executive fund at a cost of over $1400.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” said SU Treasurer Marius Johnson. “It promotes good citizenship.”
Johnson said that though SU was in favor of giving students an easier path to the voting booths, he is not sure whether the service will be available for the general election in November.
“There’s going to be a couple of factors [regarding the shuttles’ availability],” he said. “It will depend on who the [SU] executives are.”
Matt Adler, a student who spearheaded the shuttle initiative, said that the value of the shuttles lay less in their practical function and more in the presence they created on campus.
“Most students found there own way to the polls,” said Adler. “It was as much about the principle of getting the message out there to ensure that everyone voted.”
Still, Adler is glad the option was open this year.
“The shuttles were part of a larger effort to get students out there,” he said. “I would hope that Wash. U. continues to do this.”
Adler is also active in Students for Barack Obama, a group that increased its efforts in the days leading up to the primary. He said that the group will add to the future success of Obama’s overall campaign.
“It’s unbelievable [that] there’s a few hundred people of all different races [supporting Obama],” he said. “It’s a diverse group of people and it’s just like the sort of coalition that’s going to put [Obama] in the White House in 2008.”
Students also organized for Senator Hillary Clinton, another democratic candidate, and Senator John McCain, a republican candidate.
Ben Guthorn, president of Washington University College Democrats, said that the student groups involved in the campaign allowed the campus to have its voice heard.
“Our generation is becoming the voice of America,” he said. “We’re learning how to make our vote count. Every group has been doing a phenomenal job advocating for their candidate.”
Students interested in the candidates got the opportunity this past weekend to see the presidential hopefuls in St. Louis, as Obama, McCain, Clinton and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney-another republicasn candidate-all came to the area to galvanize supporters.
Jesse Wilks, a junior who went to see Obama on Saturday night, said that he enjoyed hearing the senator’s views.
“I was pretty impressed by his speaking,” said Wilks. “The energy he brought seemed to resonate with voters.”
Jordan Aibel, who is active in Students for John McCain, said that seeing McCain speak energized him to increase his campaigning.
“It definitely motivated us to go out and find others on campus who supported McCain,” he said. “It made us want to make sure that they wanted to vote.”
Several students also saw Chelsea Clinton, Senator Clinotn’s daughter, who spoke near campus on Jan. 28. Freshman Bram Lambrus said that he appreciated the opportunity to get more involved in the campaign.
“That was my first campaign experience,” he said. “It was really exciting. It makes it worth the tuition.”
With reporting by Perry Stein, Johann Qua Hiansen and Ben Sales. Written by Ben Sales.