[Infowarrior] - Most at NYU say their vote has a price

[Richard Forno]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6892.html

Most at NYU say their vote has a price
By: Lily Quateman - Washington Square News
November 14, 2007 07:29 PM EST

Two-thirds say they'll do it for a year's tuition. And for a few, even an
iPod touch will do.

That's what NYU students said they'd take in exchange for their right to
vote in the next presidential election, a recent survey by an NYU journalism
class found.

Only 20 percent said they'd exchange their vote for an iPod touch.

But 66 percent said they'd forfeit their vote for a free ride to NYU. And
half said they'd give up the right to vote forever for $1 million.

But they also overwhelmingly lauded the importance of voting.

Ninety percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for the
money also said they consider voting "very important" or "somewhat
important"; only 10 percent said it was "not important."

Also, 70.5 percent said they believe that one vote can make a difference ‹
including 70 percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for
free tuition.

The class ‹ "Foundations of Journalism," taught by journalism department
chairwoman Brooke Kroeger ‹ polled more than 3,000 undergraduates between
Oct. 24 and 26 to assess student attitudes toward voting.

"The part that I find amazing is that so many folks think one vote can make
a difference,"  Sociology Department Chairman Dalton Conley said. He added,
"If we take them at their word, then perhaps they really think votes matter,
and that's why someone might pay a year's tuition to buy theirs."

Sixty percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for tuition
also described their families' income as upper-middle or high.

Their reasons for giving up their votes varied.

"At the moment, no candidate who truly represents my political beliefs has a
chance of winning a presidential election," one male junior studying film
and television at the Tisch School of the Arts wrote on the survey.

"It is very easy to convince myself that my vote is not essential," wrote a
female CAS sophomore. "After all, I'm from New York, which will always be a
blue state."

Other students wrote that they were disgusted by the thought.

"I would be reversing history ‹ a lot of people fought so that every citizen
could be enfranchised," said a female in her second year at the Stern School
of Business.

One CAS junior went even further, writing that "anyone who'd sell his
lifelong right to vote should be deported."

Lily Quateman reports for New York University's Washington Square News.
Washington Square News is partnering with Campus Politico for the 2008
elections.