Students walked down the stairs to the lower level of the Pioneer Student Center to find much more than food to be served Feb. 19. A steady stream of 20 to 30 students stood in line anxiously, getting ready to cast their vote in the 2008 primary election.

For some students, voting is something new. You can see them penning nervously away at their registration forms, talking excitedly amongst friends. They come out of the polling booth with a smile on their face. Some say it is a sense of satisfaction, a feeling of doing their civic duty. While walking through the line of voters at the PSC, through the excitement and the turmoil it was clear that the generation that is sometimes dubbed apathetic towards politics has a lot of passion this primary season.

“I decided to come vote because I truly believe that one person can make a difference and I want to do my part,” Brent Wetter, a freshman communication technologies major said.

“I think voting is important because we need change in the country and one of the best ways for young people to try and change the country is to get out and vote,” Cody Bennett, an undeclared freshman, said.

Bennet supports Sen. Barack Obama and believes Obama’s plan to give $4,000 a year college credit for students who provide civic service puts him on top of the pack.

Other voters felt that voting was a necessity, and that casting a vote allowed them to voice complaints with the government.

“I think that it is something you got to do if you are going to live here,” Josh Bieno, a freshman engineering major, said. “If you are going to live here you can’t complain about who’s running the show unless you do your part.”

Bieno was unsure who he was going to vote for when he entered the voting booth, but knew it would not be Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton. His views were closer to Sen. John McCain or John Edwards wo has already dropped out of the race.

The majority of first time voters cast their ballots in the lowest level of the PSC. Here first time voters could register to vote if they hadn’t before and get in line between classes.

“I think the registering and voting here on campus is a great idea, because I have never voted or anything before,” Bieno said. “I think it is kind of nice you can come down here and they pretty much walk you right through it.”

“A lot of [students] wouldn’t vote if it wasn’t right here,” Cody Wickham, freshman business major, said.

According to youthvote.org, 8 percent of 18 to 29 year olds voted in the 2004 primary election as compared to 23 percent of adults that are 30 or older. First time voters this year at UW-P felt that the younger generation is becoming more involved in the voting process.

“They probably think that young people don’t care that much, that they just aren’t knowledgeable on the situation and it’s just not as important to them,” Bennett said. “I disagree, I think that a lot of stuff in this election is important to young people and I think they are going to have a big effect on the election.”

Some students do understand why younger voters, and voters in general can be turned off by politics.

“When I was younger I learned that we can say what we want, but it all comes down to the people in office’s vote,” Matthew Ross, a freshman business and psychology major said. “I can see why a lot of people are saying their vote doesn’t count.”

As the polls drew near their closing time, the line dwindled down to a handful at a time. The few remaining students look up from time to time at the television looking for any incite into the election. Even after more than twelve hours of work, the campaign supervisors maintain a smile.

“We have been so busy we couldn’t even look up,” Rita Elver and Bev Johansen, campaign supervisors at the PSC said. “It has been an excellent turnout, we didn’t know what to expect.”