In a meeting on September 30th Liz Ziner, WISPIRG Campus Organizer, stated “You’re not one of those mythical, apathetic college students that doesn’t care about anything. College students care.and we’re going to prove it!”
This marked WISPIRG’s first kickoff meeting for their New Voters Project, a plan designed to register and turn out as many MATC students to the polls as possible for the WI state governor, US State Senator, and various local offices.
The decisions from all of these offices can affect tuition, grants, and many other related departments that concerns any student.
WISPIRG is a nonpartisan, student directed, public interest advocacy organization.
Their focus is to work on the local, state and national level to stand up for special interests and protect the public.
On top of the New Voters Project, they plan on also launching campaigns to fight
hunger, homelessness, outrageous textbook prices, and other issues that matter to students.
The first issue WISPIRG raised was the new healthcare laws that went into effect on Sept 23.
Also speaking at the meeting were Drew Mealey, New Voters Project Campaign Coordinator, Tyrone Gandy, Student Senator and officer of WISPIRG, and Claudia Jankowski, a student at MATC who is working with WISPIRG under an internship.
“We’re not here to try to tell you who to vote for. We’re just making you aware of the fact that you need to make your voice heard,” says Gandy. “There are some legislators across this country who believe that students just aren’t worth their time.because they feel that we don’t vote.”
WISPIRG is also very interested in hearing from students about issues they want WISPIRG to put their manpower and resources behind. “The more people we have, the more people we can reach,” mentions Ziner.
She went on to point out that in 2008, the New Voter’s Project was able to register 12,000 students to vote in the state of WI alone, and make an additional 10,000 “get out the vote” contacts, to make sure that those students made it to the polls on Election Day.
Gandy also commented, “You didn’t come here to get an education to be dictated to. You came here to get an education so you can stand on your own two feet, take up your place in your community, and be a leader and not a follower.”
WISPIRG is currently located in the Student Senate Office, in the main building (M324) on the downtown campus. Students wishing to register to vote can do so, in person, at City Hall before November 2. You can also register on Election Day, provided you bring a proof of address and WI drivers license or Social Security Card.
If you’re interested in working with WISPIRG, there are plenty opportunities, including internships and many other volunteer activities. To find out more about these opportunities, visit www.wispirgstudents.org/milwaukee-tech or email Liz Ziner at [email protected] you at the polls!