Barack Obama. Mitt Romney. The 2012 Presidential Election.

You hear these words daily on television, in class or from a passerby on the Quad. You recognize the names of the major party candidates, and probably know if they are red or blue. But here in the safety of collegiate life, you don’t really have to listen. You can ignore it. Why? Because it doesn’t affect you. Right? Wrong.

In four years or less, you will no longer be an undergraduate student at Syracuse University. Believe it or not, you will be a member of the “real world.” As scary as that sounds, what is scarier is that you, citizens ages 18 to 24, will probably not cast a ballot this November. Only 21 percent of people in our age demographic voted on Election Day in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Taxes, student loans and health care are issues that consume an individual after graduation and are the same issues being hashed out in the national arena during this election cycle. These concepts have consumed last week’s Republican National Convention and this week’s Democratic National Convention.

Fifteen million young people have become eligible to vote since the “Hope and Change” era of 2008, according to CNN.com. Unfortunately, after several years of prolonged recession, 2012 is not offering the same enthusiasm to young people. Now, the issues have worsened and the major parties have continued to polarize.

But this is not a reason to stay at home and say politics have become a waste of time, or that nothing will ever be fixed. It is a reason to voice your opinion to generate the change you desire.

Though both presidential candidates hold the youth vote with great importance, both claiming to be the best choice for lowering college costs and generating jobs for after graduation, Colin Crowley, president of College Democrats and liberal columnist for The Daily Orange, said we, as a student body, are very apathetic.

Both the College Democrats and the College Republicans are trying to change that, as members of the groups have been working to register students to vote and spread awareness about the national campaigns.

The College Democrats, in conjunction with the Obama campaign, have a student representative on campus — junior political science major Ian Ludd, Crowley said. The group plans on running phone banks and campaigning door to door in Pennsylvania in the near future for the president, as Pennsylvania is more of a swing state than New York.

James Ward, president of College Republicans, said his group is not working to campaign for Romney directly, but rather to get students interested in politics in general by working to register students to vote and bringing political figures to SU.

He does think this November will be one of the biggest elections of our lifetime and observes the youth vote will “make or break” this election.

No matter your political leanings, the opportunity to take part in national politics, or just get informed about it, is right here on this campus.

Students need to go out and vote. The candidate elected this year will be shaping American policies for the next four — policies that will shape your life. We have the right in this country to cast a ballot on Election Day, a right not granted to many people around the world.

It’s time to start caring, SU. It’s time to vote.

Rachael Barillari is a junior political science and Middle Eastern studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at rebarill@syr.edu.

Published on September 6, 2012 at 1:00 am