Tucson Region

Music motivates

They're hip-hop and ska fans, more likely to raise a cell phone than a cigarette lighter for a power ballad, but for the 2004 election the message is clear - they're voters. More than 2,000 college students turned out Friday night at the University of Arizona campus for a student-government sponsored Rock the Vote concert. Only registered voters could attend the free show. Local ska-punk band Troy's Bucket opened the nonpartisan event, with acclaimed Kentucky hip-hop sextet Nappy Roots headlining. Mention of presidential candidates was virtually nonexistent, confined to just a handful of shirts, buttons and stickers scattered throughout the crowd. The concert is part of a larger voter-registration and education effort on campus this year, all aimed at bringing students to the polls, said Alistair Chapman, student-body president. Chapman said voting is a crucial part of civic involvement and that enticing students to register with a free concert worked well. Building the ranks of registered voters among students also sends a powerful message to the state Legislature, he said. The free concert reflects a more creative avenue for registering students to vote, but organizers said they need to keep up the pressure, encouraging students to educate themselves about candidates and issues and ultimately to show up at the polls. "All young people need to get out the vote because a lot of politicians have discounted our age group," said Katie Rapp, a UA representative of Rock the Vote, a national campaign aimed at mobilizing 20 million young voters and registering 1 million new voters for this election. And if students need an incentive, so be it, many said. "If it hadn't been for campus events, I probably wouldn't have registered," said Brittany Duncan, a 21-year-old student at the Arizona State University West Campus who came to Tucson specifically for the concert. Duncan, who registered as an independent, said political parties haven't done a good job reaching younger voters, who can be conservative on some issues and liberal on others. "I don't think anybody takes us that seriously," she said. "With this election it's going to change. I hope a lot of young people vote." Duncan, who wasn't old enough to vote in the 2000 election, said she didn't vote in 2002 because she wasn't aware enough. Duncan said she has seen more publicity for this election than previous ones. "There's a lot more attention paid to this election," she said. Chris Myers, 19, said a lot of students might feel politics don't apply to them, which makes it tough getting young people to the polls. "They don't vote the first 18 years of their life and now that they're 19, why vote," said Myers, a sophomore studying business. The concert is a "great motivator" and has created a lot of talk and debate about the coming election, he said. "It's been a big conversation," he said. "There will be a huge increase in the student population voting in this election."