Via the BU Daily Free Press:
Ross defends ‘No More Than Four’
Although City Council President Mike Ross said he values students as constituents, he remained unwavering on his “No More Than Four” initiative, which restricts off-campus student housing based on quality of life concerns for residents.
Ross, who represents District 8, which includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, and Mission Hill, discussed the different issues affecting Boston on Monday at the George Sherman Union to an audience of 30 students in a discussion organized by the Roosevelt Institute.
The “No More Than Four” mandate, which prohibits more than four undergraduates from living together in a single-family unit, benefits permanent Boston residents by preventing overcrowding and poor living conditions brought on by converted units or too many students, Ross said.
While other concerns included education, the integration of college students with the community and public transportation, the “No More Than Four” policy was the main issue discussed.
Permanent residents are being driven out of the city after losing their homes due to the great influx of out-of-state students into the Boston-area universities, Ross said.
Speculating landlords increase the occupancy capacity of their properties and rent apartments to groups of students, who are willing to pay more than regular residents relative to higher on-campus prices, he said.
“People started losing their rented homes,” Ross said.
The artificially-increased property values cause higher taxes, increasing the cost of living, he said, which in turn drives permanent residents and recent graduates out of the city.
However, Ross said the “No More Than Four” ordinance benefits students as well, as the landlords of over-populated apartments do not care about students’ safety and rent out old apartments.
Ross said he does not intend to discriminate against students, who are a positive asset for communities, energizing the community and reporting crimes at hours when regular residents would not be awake.
“Students are a good influence for the city,” he said. “They are eyes for the city.”
On his blog, “The Ross Report,” Ross said he recognizes that students only want affordable housing; nevertheless, he said college students are making small neighborhoods uninhabitable due to their rowdiness.
“I’m not going to bat so you can have your keg parties,” he said when questioned on the issue. “I have no respect for people who have no respect for others.”
Ross said he commends BU for providing a great deal of on-campus housing. Unlike Northeastern University and Suffolk University, which he said respectively provide about 50 percent and 15 percent of their students with on-campus housing, BU provides housing to about 80 percent of its students.
Ross said students are part of “an inspirational generation” who have “continued to remind America when they’ve been right or wrong,” he said.
“[Society] can’t live without you,” he said.
Ross said he is concerned with Boston’s inability to retain graduates in the area.
“The population is aging in place,” he said.
Junior Amy Baral and sophomore Anna Ward, both of the College of Arts and Sciences and Roosevelt Institute co-presidents, said they invited Ross because it gave students the opportunity to hear someone talk about firsthand experience with policymaking.
“We felt student should know their representatives, have an opportunity to interact with them and bring up issues,” Baral said.
Executive Director of Student Activities John Battaglino said Ross addressed points of concern for students.
“He did a real good job,” he said. “He has students’ interests in mind and students should have the opportunity to challenge the councilor because they are part of his neighborhood.”
Cross-posted at Roosevelt Institute at Boston University (RCN):
n 1993, the National Voter Registration Act (commonly known as the Motor Voter Law), was signed by President Clinton. The Motor Voter Law allow for voter registration to occur in a place where most Americans spend an ungodly amount of time waiting – the DMV.
The goal of the Motor Voter Law was to increase voter registration by allowing citizens to register to vote when they renew their licenses, apply for plates, or any other activity that takes them into the offices of the DMV.
However, one area where the NVRA has failed is in the registration of teenagers. Most teenagers in the US will troop down to the DMV to pick up their first driving license sometime around the ages of 16 and 17. Unfortunately, US law notes that citizens must be 18 years old to vote, and 18 years old at the time of the election in order to register to vote (effectively, one can register before he or she is 18 so long as during the upcoming election cycle, that voter will have turned 18 on or before election day). The Motor Voter Law, designed to make it easier for people to register to vote – does nothing to help the scores of teenagers receiving their licenses for the first time. The law does not apply to them. They do not qualify because they are too young.
California is currently working on changing the way their system works, following in the footsteps of states like Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii. AB 30 – a bill that has been passed through the California legislature (on strictly partisan lines, all Democrats voting for, all Republicans voting against) – is currently sitting on the desk of Governor Schwarzenegger, waiting to be signed.
The bill allows 17-year-old to preregister to vote at the DMV at they time they get their license. This preregistration will ensure that all new teen drivers will have the opportunity to fully use the resources of the DMV (that have been provided with federal funds through the Motor Voter Law) to register to vote while receiving their license and be able to vote in their first election once they turn 18 without having to worry about trooping down to town hall to fill out the necessary forms.
AB 30 and similar plans already in place in other states allow for the full application of the NVRA to all citizens using the DMV – young people, just like everyone else should be able to use the DMV’s voter registration resources to register to vote, even if they are doing so a year or two before the election in which they will actually vote. The NVRA was designed to make the process of registering to vote easier – except, state law and procedures exclude many teenagers from pre-registering, effectively excluding them being able to register at the DMV. California should pass this law and other states should follow suit. Young people are the voices of the future- isn’t it important to get them involved in politics at a young age, so that they can begin to exercise their right to vote?
At Netroots Nation:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH 4:30 PM – 5:45 PMPANEL, 301/302Every four decades, America’s demand for change puts in motion a political realignment or makeover. Like all others before it, this realignment results from the coming of age of a new generation of young Americans and the emergence of new online organizing tools. Almost everything about American politics and government—voting patterns, the fortunes of the two political parties, the issues that engage the nation, and our government and its public policy—will change because of these two forces. This panel will feature presentations by Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, and Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, co-authors of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, You Tube, and the Future of American Politics.” Rosenberg will discuss the parameters and implications of this “Dawn of a New Politics” in America, and Winograd and Hais will detail the contours and causes of the country’s five previous political realignments. This panel will examine the impact the Millennial Makeover has on the elections, issues, and public policies that will characterize America’s government and politics in the decades ahead.
Just in case you missed it (seeing as how Newsweek only posted it online, as opposed to having a whole issue dedicated to it)…
Newsweek released their rankings of the 1500 top public high schools in the country.
And Conard is ranked 2nd in the state of Connecticut, 289th in the nation. Congrats Class of 2009 – just too bad you couldn’t make it to #1 like your 2007 siblings!
The Student Voter Act was reintroduced in the House today – the same day as the official start of SAPP, we’ll take this as a good sign.
Here’s SAVE’s press release:
Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, and Steven LaTourette, R-OH, along with the Student Association for Voter Empowerment and distinguished guests will hold a press conference to discuss the impact this legislation will have to expand the right to vote to more Americans…
Barriers in the voter registration process are the most commonly cited reason that young people (18-29 years old) do not participate in elections. According to a study by CIRCLE, a combined 32% of 18-29 year olds did not vote because of uncertainties, confusion, or difficulties in registering. Similarly, a report from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics noted that nonvoting youth are “more likely [than any other group] to cite registration mistakes or a lack of registration knowledge as a reason why they did not vote.”
In response to the current problems with voter registration, The legislation will require all colleges and universities that receive federal funds to provide their students with an opportunity to register to vote as they enroll in classes. The Student VOTER Act builds off the successful model of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and like Department of Motor Vehicles, will designate colleges as “voter registration agencies.
Here’s what the bill does:
Student Voter Opportunity To Encourage Registration Act of 2008 or the Student VOTER Act of 2008 – Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to designate federally-funded institutions of higher education as agencies for the registration of voters in federal elections. Requires such schools to provide mail voter registration application forms to students registering to enroll in their courses.
Do you have any ideas about how to increase voter registration on college campuses? – Make a comment, let me know!
So the NYT ran an article called “Generation OMG” a couple of days ago.
Here’s my favorite part:
So while today’s high school and college students will be the ones creating the new public agencies and Internet infrastructures, Mr. Howe predicts, those who follow “will come of age wanting to participate in a system they trust and take for granted” — the next Silent Generation.
A distinction made between us Millennials (of which my littlest brother is either right on the cusp of or not even in, where as Aaron and I and the rest of our peers are solidly in) and the generation younger than us is striking. I’ve noticed that there is something different between my peers and the kids that I babysit for.
This recession / depression will only further this distinction. Most of the Millennials are now 18 or older – we, like Strauss and Howe predicted will change the world because of the time that we came of age – terrorism, 9/11, war, recession. The younger generation, they’re the next Silent Gen.
H/T @DeanElmore
Via FM (like I’ve said before, the lifesaver for my work for distinction).
Upon opening this site… “Whoa” was my response.
Cool stuff!
James Carville is writing a new book about the changing demographics of the Democratic party – aka the incoming Millennials
The book — whose title is “40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation” — is largely a tract about how demographic shifts portend a lasting Democratic ascendancy, Carville said. But Carville — a longtime close friend of both Clintons — offered some tantalizing hints about other parts of the book, confirming that he’d also delve into sensitive aspects of the Hillary campaign.
Hurrah! More research for my thesis! And from James Carville no less – circa 1992 hott, circa 2009 not!
Filed under: Youth
For the plane ride to Barcelona in t-minus 36 hours: Millennial Pendulum and Yes We Can
