Students registering to vote at Friday Night Live

By: Bailey McBride

Posted: 9/15/08

Students gathered to register to vote and participate in election-themed activities last Friday at the "Rock the Vote" Friday Night Live.

"I had fun at the last FNL, so I expected this to be cool, too," said Richard Welsh, a freshman computer science major.

Sponsored by FNL and the Associated Student Government, this FNL consisted of a wide range of election-themed activities, including a booth where students were encouraged to create their own election buttons and signs and an opportunity to take pictures with the "candidates," which really were large cardboard cutouts of Barack Obama and John McCain. Students were also highly encouraged to register to vote.

A voter trivia game also got students thinking about their knowledge of elections and voter history. Questions included "True or False: 'There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry'" and "True or False: 'A person who was not qualified to vote in the first election for failure to register 30 days prior to an election is not qualified to vote in the subsequent run-off.'" Both are true.

Besides election-themed fun, there were other activities available for students, including a large Velcro wall and a bungee run. Food and T-Shirts were distributed, as well.

Entertainment for the event was provided by the Scarlet Kings, a band from Nashville, Tenn., with a country-rock flavor. The band played crowd favorites, such as "Calling Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks ,in addition to their own material from their record.

Unique to this FNL was the sponsorship from the ASG. President Carter Ford, who was volunteering at one of the booths at the event, said the evening was "a celebration of the right to vote and make a difference."

The ASG became involved with this FNL in order to help push its goal to register more students to vote.

"We tried to make it a fun, nonpartisan evening," Ford said.

Many students did participate in the activities provided by FNL.

"I just registered to vote, and it was actually pretty easy," freshman Sarah Frederick said.

"It was great for us to have this opportunity to come and meet more students and volunteer," said Jong Shin, ASG vice president. "FNL is a great program to provide an alternative to students so they don't feel they have to go out and drink."

Shin also said he enjoyed the sense of campus community he felt at the event.

Other FNL and the ASG voter efforts, the Schools for Schools organization was present at the event trying to educate students about its program and the civil war in Uganda.

According to Erin Ridgeway, junior international relations major, Schools for Schools is a program where U.S. schools are paired with a school in Uganda to help raise funds and awareness, said Erin Ridgeway, a junior international relations major.

"Our pair for the university is called Gulu Secondary Schools," she said.

Many schools in Uganda were destroyed during the civil wars there. Schools for Schools is having a screening of the film "Invisible Children: Go" 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19.

The film documents U.S. high school students who spend two weeks in displacement camps in Uganda and hear the experiences of children there, said sophomore Holly Martin.

"It's a great way to open American children's eyes to what these children go through in Uganda," she said.

The film will also be attended by "Roadie" experts from Schools for Schools who will answer questions for interested students.

The first FNL of the year drew in around 2,000 people said Vanessa Stewart, a senior childhood education major.

All of the fall semester FNLs are planned during the summer, and student coordinators advertise them and encourage other students to participate when they arrive on campus in the fall.