What does it mean to be a responsible citizen? Among other things, it means to vote. And we thought all that “get-out-the-vote” banter was over when the Bush team won the November election. Well, wrong.
There’s actually an important election right around the corner, and it’s happening in our own backyard – the town of Amherst. On March 29, Amherst voters will voice their opinions at the polls again, for the first time in 2005, and it will decide a great deal of the future of our town. As a candidate for Amherst Town Meeting from the Southwest Residential Area, and as a University of Massachusetts student, I urge all of us to take part in this event.
This election, despite what one may think, is important to us students. On the face of things, we have an election for Town Meeting representatives, the Select Board, the School Committee, the Jones Library Trustees and something as obscurely named as the Elector to the Oliver Smith Will. On top of that, the Town Meeting alone has 270 candidates running on the ballot in this election. It all sounds pretty crazy, right?
Well, what if I said that this election will have very real implications for each and every one of us as UMass students and as part-time Amherst residents. And what if I said that a quick trip on the PVTA, and five minutes in line could change the way we live and feel as students in this town. That’s a total of just a fraction of our day on the March 29.
One thing that is always very strange to me is the idea that people would not vote. In a democracy, we’re all given the right to decide how our country, our state, and our town are run. Every so often, we’re given a new chance to make an adjustment to the course of our governance. Even for those who aren’t “into politics,” I would think it would be a good time to get out there and voice our opinions. The bottom line is, the town of Amherst is listening, and they want to know what it’s like for us to be students in this town. That’s a big piece of what this election is all about.
The election on March 29 is also an historic one, in that there is a question about changing the form of government we have in this town. Maybe we’ve seen all those yellow signs all over Amherst in the center, down University Drive, or elsewhere. The people who put those signs up are asking us to take the government we have now – an efficient, cost-effective, representative and Democratic government – and replace it with one that is costly and exclusionary. It would mean a new “charter” government with a mayor and a town council of nine people that, to put it lightly, could have a very real bearing on how it feels to be a student in this town. Five minutes of our time to vote “no,” and fight this elitist charter is a small price to pay to ensure an improvement of our condition as students.
The rundown on our voting situation is as follows: Many of us are already registered to vote in Amherst because of steps we took in the previous presidential election. For those of us who are, here is where we vote: If you live in Southwest, you are either in Precinct 10, or Precinct 4 – both of which vote at the Bangs Community Center (behind Rao’s Coffee). If you live in Orchard Hill or in Central, you are in Precinct 2 and you vote at the North Fire Station at 601 East Pleasant Street (near Yellow Lot 13). If you live in Northeast or in Sylvan, you live in Precinct 3, and you vote at the Immanuel Lutheran Church at 867 North Pleasant Street (between the Lederle Graduate Research Center and the Puffton Village Apartments). All locations are easily accessible via PVTA bus.
It’s simple and easy to vote. If you believe in democracy, your freedom and your security as a student and a human being, go vote. It is extremely important. Let’s get out there on March 29 and show the town of Amherst that we are not simply a transient student population to be ignored. Let’s show them what we think and let’s make a difference.
Morris Singer is a UMass student.
