Princeton Votes 2005 (P-Votes) hosted an event Friday to familiarize University students, faculty and the local community with key issues in N.J. politics, just weeks before the gubernatorial election on Nov. 8. Today is the deadline for voter registration.
Legislators and political experts discussed issues ranging from university tuition and research grant funding to the history of local politics at the panel titled "New Jersey 101."
"Our generation has forgotten that some of the decisions that most affect our lives are not made in Washington, D.C., but in our smaller and less glamorous state capitols," P-Votes Co-Chair and College Democrats President Frances Schendle '06 said. "The mission of P-Votes is thus to help students realize the influence of local and state elected officials and fulfill their civic duty to ... challenge them every year on election day."
The P-Votes panel was a collaborative effort between the College Democrats and College Republicans, the USG and the University's Office of Community and State Affairs.
Ingrid Reed, former assistant dean of the Wilson School and now a director at Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics, opened the discussion and introduced the panel members.
Panelists included state assembly members Bonnie Watson Coleman, Reed Gusciora, Bill Baroni, Loretta Weinberg and Eric Munoz. Spokespeople from the gubernatorial candidates Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) and Doug Forrester (R-N.J.) also attended.
In addition to discussing tuition assistance and other issues related to postsecondary education, the panelists explored topics such as affordable housing, high property taxes and campaign finance.
"Our panel provided marvelous insight into the complex tax structure and the specific issues fostering corruption," Schendle said. "And without getting too political, students were exposed to a spectrum of opinions on how some of the key issues should be handled."
Most University students "do not even know the basics of New Jersey politics," said Sarah Breslow '08, P-Votes education coordinator and a photographer for The Daily Princetonian.
She pointed out that New Jersey is nationally known for having the strongest governorship in the country and passing groundbreaking legislation.
P-Votes was founded during the 2004 presidential elections as a "nonpartisan student-led initiative to promote student civic engagement," according to its website.
Its first year kicked off with highly attended events, such as registration drives, a get-out-the-vote campaign, and a presidential debate watch, netting 1,303 undergraduates as newly registered voters.
"This has been an extraordinary building year for P-Votes and we have learned a lot about how we can improve our student education and outreach programs in future years," Schendle said. "I'd like to see 'New Jersey 101' become a popular annual event."
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