U.S. Census Bureau – Houghton STAR

Election season has become a monotonous time that typically has lacked the interest of many college students. But why? Why do students fail to exercise this Constitutional right as a United States citizen? Maybe it’s because students don’t think it affects them? Or perhaps they think their voice won’t be heard? Either way, when voting time comes, students remain unengaged and uninformed.

A statewide survey released by the California Voter Foundation (CVF) found that 23% of unregistered voters say they’re too busy to vote. While two-thirds of those surveyed noted that they didn’t turn out to vote because they believed that elections are controlled by special interest groups. In addition, the foundation found that 76% of nonvoters have no more than a high school diploma.
Based on a 2012 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, young adults have been found to vote more often in Presidential elections than in congressional election years. Voting rates have been historically low, especially between the ages of 18 and 24, since 1964. However, within recent years, voting-turnout rates among young adults have seen a dramatic increase. It appears that students are often drawn to particular parties based on single issues or interests. For example many individuals, and not solely students, are attracted to parties that have issues on their agenda such as climate change, the economy and social welfare, and bioethics.

Yet despite these daunting facts, voting is arguably one of the most important civic opportunities available to United States citizens. Voting does matter. Not just in presidential elections, but in local and state elections. Elected individuals represent the interests of the people. Our country was formed on the premise that we were to have a government “for the people [and] by the people.” We have a civic responsibility to exercise this right. You have a voice. You have a vote.

Alexander Buska, a senior political science major encourages students: “Vote local. Elected officials only respond to those who vote. State and town officials will be much more interested in what you have to say, and better able to accurately represent your point of view. Look at how they came out to Houghton for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex – they are plenty interested in what is going on.”

Moreover, these decisions and legislations made at the local, state, and federal level have a major impact on our lives. When asked, “Why don’t you vote?” responses included: “I’ll care when I pay my own bills,” or “I’ll register [to vote] eventually when I settle down.” The problem with waiting is

that your vote counts now. Voting on elected officials affects not just the present, but the future. Your voice matters. Your vote matters, and it matters now.

So when is your next opportunity to vote? Midterm elections are November 4. You can pick up registration forms at your local county elections office, post office, library, DMV, or print out a registration form online at your state and local board of elections website. Also, be sure to request an Absentee Ballot. This can be requested by state for midterm elections at www.yourvoteyourvoice.org.

Minimum Wage: Tilting At Windmills

A growing number of Americans, academics, and politicians herald a rise in minimum wage as a solution to fight poverty. The concept seems simple, politicians agree what is a livable minimum wage and it becomes the law of the land. However, government solutions to economics typically resemble Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

While politicians may concoct a faux pas minimum or living wage, real wages are determined by a marketplace, not the government. As economist Paul Krugman once remarked, “Wages are a market price—determined by supply and demand, the same as the price of apples or coal.” In capitalist societies, corporations will pay dearly for specific skills or if labor is in short supply. Just ask Wal-Mart workers in Wilston, North Dakota who start at $17.40 an hour.

Now that government sets the minimum wage, employers must decide if the wage, benefits, taxes and training are worth the value of the task at hand. People with no experience or no diploma find it hard to enter the workforce. They are impeded from opportunity of economic mobility into future, better jobs. You won’t move up the ladder if you can’t get on the ladder.

Minimum wage not only shrinks job market perspectives, but also has a weak correlation to low wage workers and poverty, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Economist Joseph Sabia found minimum wage increases on both the state and federal level between 2003 and 2007 “had no effect on state poverty rates.” According to Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute, “Less than 3% of hourly wage earners over the age of 24 earn at or below the federal minimum.” Most minimum wage earners are teenagers who are seeking work experience. These same teens face a 24% unemployment rate. It could be argued that high school and college workers with the need for experience should forgo any minimum wage. In the past, college students voluntarily traded labor for the experience gained from internship.

I discovered how differently fast food restaurants were operated while travelling around Europe playing baseball this summer. At a McDonald’s in La Rochelle, France, there was no counter person taking orders, instead it was a computer. Why would an American corporation be more technologically advanced in France than in their domestic franchises? I asked a French worker, who said McDonald’s found it more economically feasible to buy an expensive computer system rather than pay France’s minimum wage of $12.09 plus a multitude of benefits and payroll taxes gifted by French politicians.

When labor is costly and can be replaced by machines, most businesses invest in capital intensive systems. Even in the US, we are now witnessing technology replace the demand for workers. Check out your local bank with half the amount of tellers as it had ten years ago. Home Depot has automated cashiers. At Applebee’s, your “Neighborhood Grill and Bar,” don’t expect Flo, your favorite, neighborly waitress, to take your nachos order in the future. “Presto”—the tablet computer—has secretly been added to your table, next to the salt and pepper shakers. Since Presto works for free, should we tip Presto more than the customary 15%?

Small businesses are the engine of our economy. There should be little or no regulation on them, so long as it does not affect the safety of their employees or the public. Small businesses are typically underfunded and unable to immediately buy systems to replace people. In fact, these businesses can thrive by giving a human-touch experience versus their larger counterparts. However, the more we increase and mandate minimum wages and fringe benefits, once negotiated privately by consenting adults, the more we increase the problems we see in France. George W. Bush once quipped, “The trouble with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.” If we keep on passing minimum wage laws, this country might not have a word for enterprise.