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Original URL:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/286/metro/Students_consider_the_issues_intend_to_be_heard_in_Nov_+.shtml
Students consider the issues, intend to be heard in Nov.
By Laura Pappano, Boston Globe 10/13/2001
Gubernatorial candidates Shannon O'Brien and Mitt Romney may think they know
what issues matter most to voters. But students - some able to vote - are using
their own list of concerns to judge the candidates.
Franco Valverde, 18, senior class president at Lynn Vocational Technical
Institute, said many in his school are worried about the fate of bilingual
education. ''We have ESL classes,'' said registered voter Valverve, referring to
students learning English as a second language. ''Romney wants to get rid of
bilingual ed.''
But classmate Carvelle Brown, 17, likes Romney. ''He's brought up the issue of
bringing business back to Massachusetts,'' Brown said. ''That is something we
want.''
Teacher Gregory Washington tries to make students aware of the power of their
voice and their vote. His message: ''You have to know who to complain to,'' he
said.
Washington's students are among the 1,000 participating in several debates at
the Kennedy Library that have students questioning prominent Democrats and
Republicans standing in for O'Brien and Romney. On Wednesday and Thursday
former Swift aide Peter Forman, Senator Dianne Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat,
Republican Evan Slavin, and Representative Michael E. Festa, Democrat of
Melrose, will role play.
Nina Tisch, educational specialist at the Kennedy Library, said the hope is that
having students formulate questions will make them aware of which issues they
care most about.
Sarah Mathews, 16, a junior at Plymouth South High School who has volunteered to
help with Senator John F. Kerry's reelection campaign, said she cares most about
education and the economy. ''I don't want to graduate from college and go
out into an economy where I don't have a job,'' said Mathews, who favors
O'Brien.
Classmate Matt Hunnefeld, 17, said he's leaning toward Romney, but isn't sure.
''Both of them aren't speaking their opinion,'' he said. ''They are just saying
what they need to say to get elected.''
(The Kennedy Library also is helping tabulate results for a Nov. 1 mock
election. Check out www.nationalmockelection.com.)
LAURA PAPPANO
This story ran on page B15 of the Boston Globe on 10/13/2001. © Copyright 2002
Globe Newspaper Company.
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