UW students hear a pitch for democracy and voting

By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter

TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES In costume, Drew Dresman, left, and Riisa Conklin make an appearance at yesterday's Democracy Fest at the University of Washington.

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Sparkle Girl, Uncle Sam and Sherman Alexie came together yesterday at the University of Washington to promote one point to students: Do it in a booth.

That message about voting, splashed across red T-shirts, reached hundreds of students at Democracy Fest, a local effort to raise political consciousness sponsored by The Seattle Times, the UW, Rock the Vote, radio station KEXP and Jones Soda.

"I am planning to vote," said Kurt Delaney, a UW senior who came to the festivities to hear author Alexie speak. Delaney said he'd voted in every election since 1990, when he first registered at an erotic bakery in Wallingford.

"It seemed appropriate," he said. "What is voting if not an expression of desire?"

As he stood on the steps of the Husky Union Building, Delaney, 35, slipped passers-by strips of paper that read, "The dominant narrative sucks ... " He's part of Sparkle Girl, a group that "creates cultural statements," he said.

	TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Rachel Flynn sells T-shirts and her message of the importance of voting to fellow students at the University of Washington.

Campus interest in this fall's election has hit a historic high. Eighty-four percent of college students have said they will definitely vote this year, compared with 50 percent in spring 2000, according to a survey of 1,200 students around the country conducted by Harvard University's Institute of Politics. The study called the results "a major revival of student political engagement."

In the race for president, Sen. John Kerry holds a 13-point lead among college students, the study said.

Yesterday, Alexie spoke to a full auditorium about his experience growing up on a reservation in Eastern Washington and of the false separations that politics can create. He called himself a "bleeding-heart commie liberal" who still adores his Republican high-school basketball coach and his two best friends from high school, "right-wing rabid Republicans."

Alexie said he votes for living in a first-world country, for hope, the miracle of existence, survival and his parents.

"This country rewarded me based on my imagination," Alexie said. "I vote for that. And I vote for iTunes."

Other speakers included King County Executive Ron Sims, conservative talk-show host John Carlson and Nirvana band member Krist Novoselic.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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