An Interview with a College Student

*How old are you?
*22 years old

*Are you in college?
*Yes, Castleton State College

*What do you study?
*Sociology and Art

*Do you consider yourself active public citizen?
*Yes

*What do you do that is active in public life?
*I do community services like learn to skate programs, I work on arranging after school art programs for grammar and middle schools and I am a mentor for a fifth grade student.

*Do you know much about politics?
*Not a lot, I focus more on one candidate when the election comes around but don’t have time to pay much attention to a majority of issues. In addition I feel that some of it is a waste of my time because I don’t feel like just myself can make a difference.

*What are the issues, if any that are most important to you?
*The issues that are most important to me are education, health care and how the war in Iraq is affecting our economy.

*How did you learn the information you do know about politics?
*Discussions with friends, what I learn in class and by watching the news and reading the newspapers.

*How often do you do things like watch the news on TV or read a newspaper or an internet news source?
*I watch the news probably five days out of the week but only for a little while. I only read the paper about three to four days out of the week. Otherwise I get my news from hearsay and by talking to other people.

*Do you talk about politics with your friends and family?
*Yes I do. I talk about what is currently going on and how it will affect us all as individuals and as a society.

*Do you think our generation is apathetic?
*No I don’t think that kids do care, they just don’t vote on things, they go out into the community instead. At my school a lot of people do community service and volunteer projects but not a lot of people participate in politics.