By LAUREN SCHALIN COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The foliage is beginning to lose its brilliant hues to the crisp brown of November as college students across the country take midterms, attend football games and post-Halloween parties. On Nov. 7, students across the country will join their older friends and parents, and cast ballots to choose the country’s next leader. For some, like myself, it will be the first time. Others are seasoned voters, having been at least 18 in 1996, and voted then. The candidates in Campaign 2000 have gone to great lengths to make sure that all ground has been covered; no issue has been left untouched; no viewpoint left unexplored. What issues will have a large effect on the vote of college students? Over the past several decades, concern about the environment has been one of the issues at the top many college students' list. How will that passion translate in the voter booth? Pablo Andres(accent over the e) Rodriguiz, a 24-year-old graduate student at University of Maryland and a registered Republican, does not feel that the issue is a high priority in the platforms of George W. Bush and Al Gore. “The environmental issue is extremely downplayed by both candidates, especially Gore. It’s surprising, considering his radical book a few years back, "Earth in the Balance,� Rodriguiz said. Rodriguiz is referring to the presidential-hopeful’s 1992 book describing the environmental crisis in the United States, which offered solutions linking the economy to the environment. “Ralph Nader really stresses environmental issues, and I think that may be the reason for the other two candidates avoiding [the environmental issues]. It’s as if they are afraid to challenge his dedication,� Rodriguiz said. Robal Johnson, 21, a student of Fort Lewis College in Colorado, seems to agree. He is a registered Democrat who will be voting for Nader in the upcoming election. “I love the outdoors and nature, so I pay close attention to how the candidates approach the topic of environment. I would vote for Gore over Bush any day, but Nader seems to be the best choice. I’m a fan of his dedication to environmental issues, and I think he’ll do his best to protect what I love,� Johnson said. While it is true that Nader has focused a great deal on environmental concerns, some feel that Gore has shown an equal display of commitment to the issue. Christie Devlin, a 21-year-old history major at Providence College in Rhode Island, will be voting for Gore next week. “People here got too wrapped up in the presidential debates. The platforms go deeper than the few hours that we hear on television. Al Gore supports a lot of things that are important to me. I agree with his stance on humanistic issues, education, and also the environment. He has a lot of great ideas. Will they affect how I vote? Of course they will,� Devlin said. Says Daniel Esposito, a 20-year-old student at the University of South Carolina: "I agree much more with Gore. He has shown real concern about the environment. Bush is an oil man." Gore has tried to capitalize on the fact by saying in the debates that "holding on to the old argument that the environment and the economy are in conflict is really outdated. (Bush) is for letting the oil companies into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Houston’s just become the smoggiest city in the country and Texas is No. 1 in industrial pollution. I will fight for a clean environment in ways that strengthen our economy." Tom Chicoine, a student in Ann Arbor, Mich., agrees with those thoughts and says, "I am worried globalization and the effect it has on the environment in developing countries and the poor people." He, too, will vote
for Gore. Marking Earth Day this year , Gore outlined his vision for an “Environment Decade�: His lwish included protecting forests, rivers and public lands -ist so that "families have places where they experience nature first-hand;" encouraging "smarter growth and more livable communities so every community can grow according to its own values;" investing more in conservation, renewable energy and in fast-growing technologies that combat pollution; and "taking steps in this country and abroad to reverse the rise in global warming." And where does Bush fit into all of this? According to 28-year-old Dan Sullivan, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, he doesn’t fit in at all. Sullivan, who heavily weighs environmental issues when voting, feels that Bush, from an oil state and a former owner of an oil company, has little, if any, concern for the environment. He is undecided between Nader and Gore, but will most likely vote for Gore in an attempt to keep Bush out of office. But Bush touts the fact that Texas under his adminsitration became only the 3rd state in the nation to require pollution reductions and permits from utilities that had been exempt from laws. He also claims that the state is doing better that other states in reduction of toxic waste and that last year, Texas provided more than $55 million for water quality and supply initiatives. This past summer, Bush signed a law to regulate outdated industrial plants that are among the heaviest polluters in Texas. Bush boasts that he is the first Texas governor “to ever have brought industry together and said, ‘Get into compliance.’� "There are practical things we can do, " Bush said. "But it starts with working in collaborative effort with states. People care a lot about their land. " Part of this pro-business image might come from that fact that he is in favor of tax cuts to encourage and give incentives for the quicker development of new anti-pollution technologies "(Gore and I) differ on whether or not pollution controls ought to be voluntary. I don’t think you can get results that way, " Bush said. "I don’t believe in command and control out of Washington, D.C. I believe Washington ought to set standards, but we ought to be collaborative at the local levels." Thus, college students around the country who consider protecting the the environment a top prioroity will go the polls looking at two differenct philosphies: Gore favoring a strong federal role, while Bush would place more power in the hands of the states. For his part, Nader takes a view that corporations will tend to look the other way unless strong laws with large penalties are enforced. Whether they are followers of Bush’s pro-business, pro-state outlook, Gore’s plans of counteraction, or Nader’s views of protection, students' voices, in the form of a presidential ballot, will be heard. Concern about protecting the environment means being somewhat worried about the nation's future. And college students certainly are that. (Lauren Schalin is a senior communications major at the University of Maryland at College Park.)