By Paul Winston, 16, Y-Press
Shoshana Akabas, 16
New York City, N.Y.
Shoshana Akabas is editor in chief of Political Fire, a political newspaper at Stuyvesant High School, a renowned public school in New York. She hasn’t always been interested in politics — a few years ago, she was pretty apathetic even though both of her older brothers — Tal and Shai Akabas — were editors on the newspaper. They encouraged her to read about the issues, and she found that the more she knew, the more involved she wanted to be.
Shoshana was the driving force behind Political Fire’s Web site earlier in the school year. Because of some financial concerns with the printed newspaper, the then-editor in chief wanted to delay the launch of the Web site, www.stuypoliticalfire.com. Shoshana pressed on and not only launched the Web site but has gained the editorship, too. “It
Beth Fosthas been very successful and has many obvious advantages over the printed newspaper (no lack of space, no strict deadlines, no cost, etc.),” she wrote in an e-mail. “This goes to show: If you care about something, take charge!”
What do you consider your biggest success with Political Fire?
Probably the amount of votes we got on our site poll in the first week. I was really shocked at how many people wanted their voices heard. I'd estimate about 100. I was under the impression that because people didn't know about the issues, they wouldn't care. That proved to be false. I have found that people are willing and even want to learn and form their own opinions about political issues. They only need the right resources.
What advice would you give to other kids who want to get politically involved?
Just start reading. Read up on the hot topics — there are tons of articles on the Internet. Educate yourself on the big issues, figure out where you stand and go from there.
If you could pass any piece of legislation, what issue would it be on?
Anything environmental. This is one area where our legislation is seriously lacking. We have one of the lowest auto efficiency standards in the world. Tighter recycling regulations need to be passed. More forest areas need to be preserved. Without these changes, our environment faces serious danger.
By Becky Mangan, 12, Y-Press
Raheel Anwer, 16
Chicago, Illinois
Raheel Anwer joined the Mikva Challenge Club at Amundsen High School in Chicago without knowing that it would take him to New Hampshire, standing next to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
The club Raheel joined is part of a project that helps teachers start clubs to give students a civics education. It began in 1997 as a tribute to Abner Mikva, a former congressman and judge and now senior director and visiting professor at the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago. More than 2,000 students are involved in the challenge this year.
Raheel was one of five students from his club (and among 60 from the Chicago area) selected to go on an all-expense-paid campaign trip to New Hampshire. Among his jobs were holding signs, canvassing neighborhoods, knocking on doors and making phone calls.
What got you involved in politics?
It’s just thanks to the Mikva program, you know. It’s really gotten me involved in the political process. If it wasn’t for Mikva, I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten involved as much as I am right now. So I’m really glad and it’s helping me out a lot.
What was best response you got while you were campaigning?
While I was working in New Hampshire at the Hillary campaign office, this lady came up and she said, “I’m really glad that I see young people like you guys involved in this type of program, you know. It shows us that you guys really, really care.”
If you could talk with the candidates about any issue, what would it be?
It would be (about) college grants because I’m a sophomore, and in the future I am definitely looking forward to going to college, you know, and college tuition is increasing rapidly every year.
Who do you think will win the election?
That is a hard question, but I think that Hillary has really good chances of winning because of the support from Bill Clinton, you know. I can see that a lot of people like Bill, so they’re hoping the same with Hillary.
By Jake Thornburgh, 14, Y-Press
Beth Foster, 17
Charlottesville, Virginia.
As a teenager, Beth Foster has had an ongoing interest in politics. In 2005, she worked on the governor’s campaign in Virginia, and then in 2006, she helped out in a congressional campaign.
Last year, she moved to the national arena. She joined the Barack Obama campaign and spent her summer in New Hampshire helping to set up the “ground operation” and knocking on doors and making calls. She returned during winter break, as campaigning became intense. “It was so close, it was voter contact all the time. We talked to voters all day, doing calls all day, canvassing all day. So, it was a crazy experience, but a great experience.” She’s also campaigned for Obama in Connecticut and Virginia.
Are you still helping out with the campaign?
Because I’m a senior in high school, I had to come back to school. If Senator Obama does get the nomination, I plan on doing stuff this summer and maybe taking a semester off of school to work for him on the general election.
What do you consider your biggest success as a campaigner?
If you look at the numbers, the wins in Connecticut and Virginia would be I guess the biggest success. I think personally working in New Hampshire was, even though we lost by two percentage points. I put so much time into New Hampshire. The towns that I actually worked in, we won those towns. We didn’t win the whole state, but we won those towns. And so for me personally, I think that was my biggest success.
Why are you involved?
I probably would’ve worked in some capacity on the election for some candidate, but probably not have been as involved had it not been for Senator Obama. I heard him speak — it was almost exactly a year ago — last February in Virginia, and I was so impressed by what he had to say and I really believed in his message. It was one of those things where I felt I had to do something to get him elected.
What advice would you give to other students who want to get politically involved?
When I first started, I was 14. It can seem so intimidating. You think, “I’m so dumb. What difference can I make?” But it makes such a huge difference, and you can do so much even as a 14-, 15-, 16- or 17-year-old. Youth is the driving force behind a lot of campaigns. Young people can do a lot of things that people who are older can’t, just by working hard.
By Tommy Mangan, 11, Y-Press
Nik Ritchie, 21
Orlando, Fla.
Nik Ritchie helped start the Ron Paul club at the University of Central Florida. Although John McCain appears headed for the Republican nomination, Ritchie feels that Paul accomplished a lot. “No one knew who he was before he ran for president, and he did very well considering how unknown he was,” he said.
Ritchie did his best to make Paul known. He and other volunteers set up tables on UCF’s campus promoting Paul and answering questions, and they spent many Saturday mornings going door-to-door to tell people about the candidate and give them reading material.
Ritchie says he has to do some research before he knows whom he will vote for in November. If he can’t find someone who best represents his values, he says he’ll write in Ron Paul.
What do you consider your biggest success?
I would say, as far as the Ron Paul campaign, one big thing that we did was we got a picture of our table at our school on the cover of The Orlando Sentinel, which is the biggest newspaper in Orlando. We had a big picture of us with a big Ron Paul sign right on the front cover. That was really big because Ron Paul didn’t get a whole lot of attention in the newspapers and on TV.
Did you make any mistakes?
We didn’t start (campaigning) until about January, and the (primary) election here in Florida was at the end of January. We should’ve started sooner. But we didn’t really know because we were all volunteers and we weren’t being told what to do by anyone.
What do you plan to do as the country gets closer to the November election?
My club at school is still doing stuff. We’re actually probably going to be working with some local politicians in local elections around here because that’s just as important, if not more important, than the presidential election. We can make an even bigger difference by working and helping out with local politicians, running for governor or mayor or Congress.
If you could talk with candidates about any issue, what would it be?
The biggest issue that I would like to talk to candidates about is the economy, especially the Federal Reserve, which is an issue that most candidates do not talk about at all. And that’s why I liked Ron Paul so much, ’cause he’s the only one that would talk about the Federal Reserve issue.
If I were a president, I would probably say we need to stop the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a bank that prints all of the money that every American uses. And they have not been doing a very good job because they have been printing too much money, and that causes bad things to happen in the economy.
By Max Gabovitch, 14
Megan Waggoner, 17
Palmer, Alaska
Megan Waggoner’s first love is the environment. She is active in Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and traveled to Washington, D.C., last year to attend the President’s Environmental Youth Awards ceremony, which recognized her group for its environmental activism.
Megan also has been working with the Alaska chapter of Young Democrats for a little over a year because she believes the Democrats are most likely to share her concerns about climate change and conservation. She supports Barack Obama and hopes the next president adopts the Kyoto Protocol, whose objective is to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
If you could talk with the candidates about any issue, what would it be?
I would talk about the environment, I think, definitely energy security and climate change. Climate change is huge, and it definitely needs to be a subject that needs to be addressed and needs to have action taken on, and I think that should be at the frontline of any candidate’s campaign.
What’s been the best response to your work from the public?
The best response is when young people are involved, (especially) seeing people who sometimes aren’t even able to vote. I think that candidates are starting to see that youth are the ones who really will push their movement.
What is the funniest thing that you have done with your work?
Let’s see, as far as Young Democrats go, I guess just standing out in like 15 below and waving Obama signs. It’s pretty fun, and you know that you’re giving something up to be able to do that.
Do you see yourself politically involved in the 2012 election?
I do, yeah. I see myself being involved in every election until, you know, the day I can’t do that anymore.
