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The votes have been counted and the results are in: the 2008 Associated Students election received the highest participation from the student body in several years. Tripling the previous year’s count, 706 students voted, bringing a landslide victory to the Pasadena Party for Progress.

It may be speculated that few students care about what goes on with the student government, but with the figure showing a surprising growth in voters, PCC has strayed from the theorized “apathy” by generations of old.

Instead, the considerable increase demonstrates a need to reconsider this notion. Through the help and promotion of the media and A.S. candidates, this was a step in the right direction for PCC’s student body.

Without the cooperation between Courier and the A.S. in battling the lethargy giant, the response would have been a hushed pulse struggling to beat. With only about 200 voters in 2007, this year’s elections fared better by utilizing what the current campus demographic adheres to best, the Internet.

The A.S. candidates used Facebook and MySpace in their favor by campaigning themselves and the election to a “me page”-savvy generation. Even encouraging more student votes by word-of-mouth, the A.S. candidates made more of an apparent effort, unlike previous years.

However, PCC is not nearly close enough to where it should be in student involvement, although the number of voters has tripled. With about 30,000 students attending PCC per year, voter participation is equivalent to approximately 2 percent of the total student body.

Less than two decades ago, participation thrived with eight candidates involved in a political scuffle for the presidency and the voter count reached about 1,700 students in 1993.

The blueprints for success in the 1993 election were not a mystery and remain unscathed by Father Time. Getting the word out and getting people to care are, and have been, the basic tactics to receiving a desired outcome. It is a matter of catering to the ever-changing demographic.

As a perpetual duty to its campus, the media and A.S. candidates must continue to do so bring consciousness to the community, which will continue to drive the student body in the right direction, down the path of participation.

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