Students get new avenues to political expression
By Chad Livengood
Central Michigan Life
December 07, 2003
College students have a new venue to express opinions on proposals that have been introduced in the state legislature.
The Michigan House Civics Commission and the Michigan Campus Compact have created online Web polls where students can express their views about current legislation.
A new poll question will be posted twice a month, said Drew Buchholz, coordinator of the bi-partisan House Civics Commission, which aims to encourage students' involvement and participation in Michigan state government.
Buchholz said students can participate in the poll by going to www.civicscommission.com/polls/votingPage.php. The December poll asks students if they agree or disagree with House Resolution 141.
Resolution 141, if passed into law, would require Michigan's public universities to reexamine all class offerings and refrain from offering classes or university-sanctioned activities that promote or facilitate participation in a sexual lifestyle or practices other than heterosexual monogamy.
The poll is not a direct attack on the legislation or its sponsors, Buchholz said.
The resolution's primary sponsor, Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, said he invites student input about the issue, but isn't optimistic of what the results the polls may produce.
“I suspect that from college students that the resolution won't get a lot of support,” Hoogendyk said.
Polling results as of Sunday morning showed that 79.25 percent of the students polled opposed the legislation.
The opposing opinions are broken down into two different categories — 11.32 percent said “No, public universities are autonomous from the state control and should not have to report class offering to state legislators” and 67.92 percent of the students polled said “No, public universities are institutions of higher learning and controversy can be a useful part of the educational experience.”
In the poll, 11.32 percent of the students polled so far voted in favor of the legislation. They said, “Yes, universities should not offer these types of courses that encourage alternative sexuality.”
The remaining 9.43 percent said the legislature should have the power to control what universities teach in schools because “taxpayers support public universities and should have a say through their representation in the courses universities offer.”
Buchholz said students at CMU should participate in the polls because it is an act of civic duty.