Letters to the Editor

Why you should vote

As we approach Election Day in Virginia — Tuesday, Nov. 8 — we urge all of you to vote. 

As we have learned in recent elections in this county, many state races are decided by only a few hundred votes.  Therefore, the evidence is in: every vote counts. Make sure your voice and the voices of your fellow students are heard this time around!

This year, the candidates for governor of Virginia differ fundamentally on major issues as diverse as funding for higher education, transportation and immigration policy and abortion rights.  The candidate who wins will take the Commonwealth of Virginia in very different directions than his opponent would have. Therefore, many of us are convinced that this is an extremely important election for our state. 

So, what can you do?  

First, apply for an absentee ballot if you will not be able to vote in person.  Virginia allows full-time students who are registered to vote to do so through an absentee ballot in their county or city of residence before the election.  However, you must have registered to vote by Oct. 11.

Most counties and cities provide applications for absentee ballots on their Web sites. You can access the Web site of your county of home residence and its Elections Board through the National Association of Counties Web site. If the county does not have a Web site, the county profile will contain a telephone number for the county elections office that you can contact. 

If you vote by mail, however, you must carefully observe the deadlines for requesting your ballot.  You should do so as soon as possible. 

Second, learn the differences between the positions of the candidates.  Each candidate has set forth his views on his web site: kaine2005.org and jerrykilgore.com. In addition, many other sources of information are available on the Internet and in the news media.

Third, vote — either by absentee ballot or in person.  Many counties and cities allow you to vote absentee “in person” in specified places before the election. Under these procedures, you merely walk in and vote. You do not need to order an absentee ballot in advance.  For example, in Fairfax County, Va., the Election Board began in-person absentee voting on Sept. 26 and continues through Saturday, Nov. 5.  Locations and times are generally listed at the county or city Web site, or you can find them by calling the local election board.

Whichever candidate you prefer, don’t miss the opportunity to exercise your most important right and obligation as a citizen!

Debra A. Jacobson

Professorial Lecturer in Law

The George Washington University Law School

Jonathan Miles, Professor

Department of Integrated Science and Technology

James Madison University

The ‘80s were misrepresented

I was confounded when I finished reading Bobby McMahon’s article, “’The Super Bowl Shuffle’ Comes Back.” His skewed opinions on the 1980s lead us all to believe that the only beacon of hope was a song and video about a football team. Let’s step out of the Monday night haze for one moment and journey to another event in 1985. Nearly a year earlier, a selfless group of musical performers known as USA for Africa met together and recorded “We Are the World.” Performers included Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Prince, Bruce Springsteen … the list goes on. The album sold 800,000 copies in one weekend and is considered, “the apogee of musical activism.” It was about helping those impoverished and suffering in Africa and not about a football team that had never won the Super Bowl.

Furthermore, there were few things in this article that disturbed me as much as the senseless smear campaign against Emilio Estevez. Let’s not forget Mr. Estevez’s role in “The Outsiders,” widely considered a tour de force, coming of age story about disillusioned youth. In addition, many of Emilio Estevez’s greater works such at “The Mighty Ducks” movies, “Men at Work” and “Freejack” (with Mick Jagger) would not come until the 1990s. I feel it was wrong to affront the rising talent of a young actor with the odds against him.

Tim Van Schaick

Alumnus ‘05