Brown and White Vol. 130 no. 18

              The Brown and White Vol. 130 No. 18
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
Structural barriers hinder local voter turnout
High school
promotes civic
participation
By JACQUELINE TENREIRO
Editor in Chief
This year’s presidential elec-tion
season has been underfoot for
months, with more than half of U.S.
states and territories voting or cau-cusing
to select their party represen-tatives.
On April 26, Pennsylvania voters
will flock to their polling places, con-tributing
to an already high primary
election voter turnout. According to
the Pew Research Center, 2016 pri-mary
voting has reached its highest
percentages for both Republican and
Democratic voters since the ’80s and
’90s, respectively — disregarding
2008’s record turnout. But this year’s
numbers rival even that election sea-son,
according to the data.
But while the current national
race may see steadily increasing par-ticipant
numbers, the same cannot
be said of elections that take place
closer to home.
Of the 297,735 residents of
Northampton County, Pennsylvania,
65.8 percent are registered voters,
according to census and public data.
On Nov. 3, those eligible were
given the opportunity to cast their
ballots in municipal elections, part of
a greater collection of United States
general elections taking place on the
day.
The 149 county polling places
stayed open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for
decisions to be made on candidates,
among which were prospective selec-tions
for the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court as well as district attorneys
and mayors, among others.
Yet only 41,387 Northampton res-idents
took part, resulting in a 2015
local election turnout of 21.13 per-cent.
But these low numbers are neither
unique to the county nor rooted in
any one issue. Mirroring the national
trend, local election turnout has been
consistently low — Northampton
county’s data from November prov-ing
no different. Officials and voters
alike share a two-fold reasoning for
dwindling civic participation: a lack
of political engagement supplement-ed
by structural barriers.
“It’s a rational behavior, sadly, for
Americans to only vote in presiden-tial
elections,” said Saladin Ambar,
a professor of political science at
Lehigh. “And even then, it’s harder
for voters to see the efficacy of their
vote.”
While gauging importance of a
single vote in an election of millions
might pose difficulties on a national
scale, local elections face a similar,
yet heightened, issue. Local elections
may more directly impact voters
based on sheer government-citizen
proximity, but according to Ambar,
those same individuals may find it
hard to perceive a county judge or
school board member’s position as
clearly as a president’s.
By JACQUELINE TENREIRO
Editor in Chief
Like many educators, Jeffrey
Corpora teaches his Easton Area
High School students to participate.
But it’s a different kind of partici-pation
than answering a question or
raising a hand.
It’s a participation that extends to
the surrounding environment — the
community that Corpora works to
make his advanced placement gov-ernment
and politics students care
about as members of a democracy.
It’s why the classroom itself is
adorned with posters of former pres-idents,
maps of electoral college vote
distributions and a sheet bearing the
name of Matt Cartwright, congress-man
for Pennsylvania’s 17th district
— the one EAHS falls into. It’s why
lesson plans include learning about
mass media, political framework and
civil rights, Corpora said.
It’s why, when faced with the real-ity
of low turnout from young voters
both nationally and locally, Corpora’s
students aren’t at a loss for ideas on
how to garner interest from their
generation. Though many of the high
school seniors are not yet of legal vot-ing
age, the class has learned of its
demographic’s hesitation to engage,
and the perception of how the politi-cal
sphere pushes youth away.
“I feel like most of the people that
are running, they don’t care about
us,” student Harneet Mandair said.
“The points that they make are about
the old(er) and the dying.”
In a study by Google, the top five
searches pertaining to the 2016
national election issues are immigra-tion,
education, taxes, economy and
gun control.
See VOTING Page 4 See CIVIC Page 4
Visiting D-Life students cited for alcohol consumption
Local voter turnout consistently remains lower
than participation in national elections
By CHRISTINA MUELLER
B&W Staff
During Diversity Life Weekend,
which was held from April 8-10,
accepted students from socio-econom-ically,
regionally or racially diverse
backgrounds spent the weekend at
Lehigh and explored the campus. The
144 students who participated this
year attended workshops and pre-sentations,
and were encouraged to
learn about life at Lehigh. They were
not, however, encouraged or told to
attend parties.
This year, two participants of
Diversity Life Weekend, who were
accepted into the Lehigh class of
2020, were cited by police for under-age
alcohol con-sumption.
The two
individuals were
not named in the
Lehigh Crime Log
because they are
minors.
The two incidents
are under investiga-tion
by the Office
of Admissions, and
the students’ accep-tances
to the uni-versity
could be repealed.
Bruce Bunnick, the director of
Admissions, said the university
does not promote any events that
involve drugs or
alcohol during
D-Life Weekend.
Before Diversity
Life Weekend par-ticipants
arrive on
campus, members
of the Admissions
Office require the
prospective stu-dents
sign an agree-ment
that they will
not use alcohol or
drugs while at Lehigh for the week-end’s
program. The document also
states participants are liable for their
actions and informs students that
their admissions decision could be
changed if they are involved in an
alcohol- or drug-related incident.
“We have taken steps to ask stu-dents
for a description of their side
of the story and for a response to
our office that will allow us to make
a decision about their application,”
Bunnick said. “We have not made a
decision.”
A third underage individual was
cited for alcohol consumption during
the weekend, but Bunnick said this
See D-LIFE Page 2
“Unfortunately,
students who arrive
on campus make
their own decisions.
Bruce Bunnick
Director of Admissions ”
Kelly McCoy/B&W Staff; France map and Germany map courtesy of Wikimedia; United States map courtesy of pixabay.com