Encouraging the vote

We don't need to say registering to vote is important -- it's been drilled into so many heads this election year, and anyone with an ounce of civic duty and access to the world outside his home knows the importance of registering to vote in an election year. \nAccording to a new survey conducted by Harvard's Institute of Politics and The Chronicle of Higher Education, while most of America's colleges are hotbeds of political activity this election year, one third of schools don't meet a 1998 federal law that requires voter registration efforts on campuses across the country. \nLocally, things are better. IU had a voter registration blitz this week, and we must give credit where credit is due and say thanks to the people who have worked so hard, especially the universities around the country who have the onerous task of registering the least-likely-to-vote demographic.\nWe commend not only our diligent student peers who have volunteered time from their busy schedules to help register new voters, but also the IU administration, which has worked so cooperatively during this voter drive. Of course, there's always work left to do. With a third of universities falling behind, they should take note of the other universities that are flourishing and signing students up. \nThere is still a little more than a week left to register to vote. You can do it locally, you can absentee vote from back home, but just do it. And to the many people who have worked so hard to ensure the fundamental right all other rights are based upon, thank you. Now, let's see who shows up.