Vrindavan lies on the banks of Northern India’s Yamuna River, not far from the site of the Taj Mahal. Believed to be the city where Lord Krishna grew up, Vrindavan is one of the most sacred sites for Hindus, featuring hundreds of temples devoted to Krishna’s worship.

The holy city is also the site of overwhelming poverty and powerlessness for its most vulnerable residents: widows. Known as the City of Widows, Vrindavan has a total population of 57,000, of whom an estimated 15,000 are widows.

“Destitute widows pour into the town, either in observance of centuries-old religious and societal prescriptions or because their families, unwilling or unable to support them, have abandoned them here,” Walter said. “Fewer than one third of the residents have regular work; of those who do, many make less than a dollar a day. The high volume of tourists and pilgrims visiting the town creates a perception of economic opportunity, but a privileged few have already laid claim to the market for visitors’ goods and services, leaving no room for newcomers to secure living incomes.”

Click to view photos Walter took in India

Walter’s project will target Vrindavan’s widows and female immigrants as well as other members of the community who have no viable means of supporting themselves.

“My project is called Vrindaban ka Gaurav, or, Glory of Vrindavan (VKG),” Walter said. “It involves the creation of an artisans’ collective for the production and marketing of poshak, a needlepoint handicraft traditionally made by women in the Vrindavan area. My goals are to help create livelihoods for local people and to create a community surrounding this project in which skills can be developed and ideas can be shared.”

Walter’s work will be supported by a $10,000 grant from philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis’s 100 Projects for Peace initiative, as well as an additional $2,500 from Lewis & Clark. Capitalizing on connections she made with many organizations and nonprofits during previous trips to India, Walter will partner with groups that are already established in the Vrindavan area, such as Friends of Vrindavan and Food for Life Vrindavan. Such collaboration will not only allow her to launch VKG quickly, but will also ensure its continued existence after her visit.

“All of my lodging is being provided for free by people I know in the area, so nearly all grant funding will go toward the project: coordinator and trainers’ wages, training sessions, packaging supplies and initial poshak materials,” Walter said. “It is my hope that this solid foundation for VKG will enable the collective to cover its own operating expenses and employee wages within the first year.”

Walter also recently won a Fulbright Research Grant to study the salience of religious and economic themes in advocating environmental stewardship in Vrindavan.

“It’s clear that Vrindavan has myriad problems, including deforestation, over-development, water security issues, and unemployment,” Walter said. “I know my project won’t be able to help everyone, but I hope VKG can facilitate greater security for those most egregiously affected by these circumstances. Giving widows and poor housewives a source of income will lead to the stability and dignity needed to create an overall environment of peace.”

This slideshow features images Walter took during her travels in India. These photos appear in an exhibition at Pappacino’s coffee shop on Terwilliger through the end of May.  

As Lewis & Clark students enter the workforce, their focus on seeking global understanding and creating new knowledge aligns them with industries’ needs, especially in this time of economic turmoil.

“This is not a time to be fearful,” said Minda Heyman, director of the Center for Career and Community Engagement. “You can’t do anything from a position of fear. Instead, our office is working to empower students by encouraging them to get involved in the job-search process early and helping them tell their own stories. When students know who they are and what they have to offer to a company or organization, they’re able to take charge of their job search.”

For Lewis & Clark students, telling one’s story means articulating the connections between myriad experiences that extend far beyond the classroom, including overseas trips, internships, volunteer experiences, leadership positions, and extracurricular activities.

“Our students are tremendously talented and they are taking part in all sorts of different experiences that can help set them apart from other applicants during their job search,” Heyman said. “We’re here to help students synthesize those experiences with what they’re learning in the classroom in order to determine their path and purpose.”

The advantage of a liberal arts education and cohesive, diverse alumni community

Throughout a student’s time at Lewis & Clark, the Center for Career and Community Engagement (referred to on campus as 3CE) encourages students to make a sustained investment to the job search process. 3CE also focuses on helping students to find engagement opportunities and prepare for transitions to graduate school and the professional world by offering resources such as one-on-one meetings, resume and cover letter assistance, mock interviews, and job fairs.

This spring, 3CE also hosted a special guest lecturer on campus to help students understand how the job market has shifted and what skills are most important to businesses in the current economy. Phil Gardner, an expert in college labor markets, spoke to students, faculty, and administrators about the harsh realities of the current market.

Despite the current economy, he said, companies are hiring liberal arts students because their skills and experiences uniquely qualify them to enter jobs and immediately make an impact on business. As Gardner’s research has shown, entry-level positions have evolved in the wake of a boom in internships and now require new employees to engage in continuous learning, integrate global perspectives, and create new solutions.

At Lewis & Clark, students are continually challenged both in and out of the classroom to develop such attributes and perspectives, which is particularly relevant given the present level of competition in the professional world.

Both Heyman and Gardner stress the importance of networking as students embark on their job search. The interpersonal connections students make through their workstudy jobs, internships, study abroad trips, and other experiences, form the basis of students’ professional networks.

“Building relationships is becoming increasingly significant,” Heyman said. “A job search is not simply submitting an application anymore. It’s a communication process.”

Careers for Pioneers, a biannual networking event collaboratively organized by 3CE, Alumni and Parent Programs, and the Board of Alumni, capitalizes on the natural affinity that exists between students and alumni. Heyman hopes to continue to increase collaboration with alumni, citing the significance of such opportunities for current students.

“The alumni’s willingness to help current students build the relationships and internship opportunities that will expedite their transition into careers is so important,” Heyman said.

The Lewis & Clark alumni network is a diverse community, representing many different sectors in the job market and geographic locations around the world.

Finding value in thinking of the path, not the destination

The paths Lewis & Clark students take after graduation are comprised of many different stepping stones, Heyman said, which underscores a central mission of liberal arts education: to create life-long learners whose insatiable curiosity and adaptability makes them invaluable to countless industries. Particularly this year, graduates likely will not go directly into their careers.

Examples abound of students tapping opportunities in both influential and diverse settings around the world. Isaac Holeman ’09, will spend the next year working for an organization he co-founded in Malawi, using technology to increase access to health care. Ben Brysacz ’09 will head to Washington D.C. after graduation for an internship with the Public Service Academy, on his way to law school. For Katie Walter ’09, the next step after graduation will be Northern India, where she will conduct research to assess the salience of religious and economic themes in advocating environmental stewardship. In each case, students’ liberal arts experience at Lewis & Clark has prepared them for serious, substantial work, paving the way for careers as innovative leaders and engaged citizens of the world.

“The question we pose to graduates shouldn’t be ‘What are you going to do for the rest of your life?’ but ‘What will you do for the next year or two?’ By shifting that question, it puts the emphasis on one’s ability to grow and learn and know oneself,” Heyman said.

The initial steps Lewis & Clark students take after graduation often include service work in organizations like AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and Peace Corps. Nationwide, applications to public service programs have ballooned in recent years, with a spike this year, due to both President Obama’s call to action and the recession. With an alumni participation rate among the top in the nation, Lewis & Clark consistently prepares individuals for positions in public service.

“It’s in the DNA here,” Heyman said. “Lewis & Clark students want to make a difference and want to help solve the problems they see in the world. For some, that means joining Teach for America, for others, it’s Peace Corps or another position in the public interest.

“No matter which route our students choose after graduation, our role is to prepare them to digest these diverse experiences and understand how the experiences and their outcomes shape who they are bring them closer to finding their calling.”

A biochemistry and molecular biology major, Holeman has earned numerous academic honors in his time at Lewis & Clark, including membership in the prestigious Pamplin Society of Fellows as well as being named a Rogers Scholar. Most recently, Holeman received a fellowship from the Compton Foundation’s Mentor Fellowship Program, which promotes the creativity, commitment, and service of ten graduating seniors across the country with the funding to implement a self-directed project.

Holeman hopes his project will aid communities with little infrastructure, where the transmission of basic yet life-saving information still depends on health workers walking up to 100 miles. By integrating a free program that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub and an electronic medical record system, the FrontlineSMS:Medic team will help to link workers in the field with health centers and hospitals.

“Isaac’s project is extremely innovative and will help launch him on what we all know will be an extraordinary career in public health,” said Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein.

As commencement nears, Holeman talks about how he has prepared for this work and shares his hopes for the project and the future.

Can you explain a bit about FrontlineSMS:Medic and what you’ll be doing for the organization?

A few months ago, I began working on a project using cell phones to empower community health workers in poor rural areas, mostly in East Africa. My initial vision was to give cell phones to health workers so that they could send text messages to doctors, and also write a program that would enable them to access electronic medical records with their phones. Since I started out, the project has grown a lot; I’ve teamed up with other students here at Lewis & Clark, as well as the undergraduate and medical schools at Stanford, and we decided to launch under the name FrontlineSMS:Medic. We’ve lined up some really great clinical partners, so we’ll be setting up this technology with at least 15 global health organizations across several continents in the next year. I’ll spend most of the year based out of Malawi, working with several health centers there, as well as directing implementation across the globe via e-mail and Skype.

How have your classes or extracurricular experiences at Lewis & Clark prepared you for this work?

I’m a biochemistry and molecular biology major. If I had not been a part of this rigorous, very challenging major, I just don’t think I would have the confidence to do what I’m doing right now. I have had some incredible experiences working with technology with friends here on campus, as well as with the vibrant open-source tech community in Portland. I used to think my fascination with technology was just a hobby. It was only recently that I discovered the field of global health informatics and realized that I could design a career that would bring together technology, information, and global health. Finally, studying abroad in Havana, The Netherlands, and Guatemala were all important experiences that prepared me to begin planning FrontlineSMS:Medic.

What other international experiences have you participated in, and what impact have those experiences had on you?

Choosing to study in The Netherlands between high school and college was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. When I finished high school, I was relatively egocentric and narrow minded, and, frankly, that lifestyle was not making me very happy. While abroad in Holland, I ended up selecting Lewis & Clark for it’s global and political ethos, and I’ve been thinking more and more about global citizenship since then. After my sophomore year, I spent about two months in Guatemala, learning Spanish and participating in a human rights delegation that taught me a lot about the practice of human rights (which is worlds away from the philosophy or scholarship of human rights). Just a few weeks after returning to The States, I left again for Havana, Cuba, with about 25 other LC students and a professor of sociology. I spent most of the semester conducting an ethnography at a walk-in clinic in downtown Havana. It was my first extensive qualitative research project, and a fascinating peek at a health system that is very different from our own.

You’ve been an advocate for health care reform in this country by working with the Archimedes Movement. You were also a vocal supporter of the Obama campaign. What changes do you hope to see in the sector in the next few years?

My freshman year at Lewis & Clark I started working with the Archimedes Movement and learning from visionary leaders like Liz Baxter and former Governor John Kitzhaber. For about four years, we’ve been trying to inject one big idea into the health care debate: the way we finance health care is distinct from the way we deliver it. Changing the financing mechanism alone will not get us out of this mess. Changing the structure of our delivery system will not be easy—one in 11 jobs in our economy is related to health care, and it’s not surprising that hard-working people want to keep their jobs. If we want to make our country viable again, patients and providers will need to commit to being citizens first and stake-holders second. This idea is not mainstream yet, but it’s increasingly common in policy circles, and I fervently hope that President Obama will make it a pillar of our health reform agenda.

Given the growing need for human services and funding challenges, how do you hope to make a difference?

I’m carving out a path in global health informatics, and I’d like to spend my career cultivating entrepreneurial educational systems that address real problems rather than just training people to get high paying jobs. For the next year, my work with FrontlineSMS:Medic will be supported by a Compton Mentor Fellowship, and subsequently I’ll attend medical school. I will definitely continue to engage in the political process, but I’m probably too unconventional in my political philosophies to run for elected office under either of the dominant political parties in the U.S. I can imagine working with the World Health Organization, but who knows? For now, I’m content working hard and listening intently for the coy knock of opportunity.

Toward that goal, Beck spent her summer researching legal cases for the Oregon Law Center (OLC), an organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals and families.

Beck’s summer internship with the OLC was made possible by a $4,500 stipend from the law school’s Public Interest Law Project, known as PILP. Through the summer program, students gain valuable experience while providing public interest organizations with much-needed legal assistance. In addition to supporting summer projects, PILP funds are also allocated to the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which helps public interest lawyers repay law school loans after graduation.

This summer, 18 Lewis & Clark law students were awarded stipends to work with organizations such as Mercy Corps, EarthJustice, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, and Trustees for Alaska.

In this video, Beck talks about her work with OLC, a visit to Dignity Village, and her commitment to public interest work.

Lewis & Clark Law School graduates enter public interest careers at a rate that is more than three times the national average. Combining graduates who enter government work, and public interest graduates, more than one third of Lewis & Clark Law School’s graduates entered public service careers.

The students, Casey Nelson CAS ’08, James Cotton CAS ‘08 and sophomores Betto van Waarden and Claire Battaglia, are hard at work, improving the Criamar facilities and establishing community programs with help from UNICEF. As they help Criamar residents counteract the effects of neglect and abuse and become peaceful contributors to society, they will share stories and photos on their blog Cultivating Peace.

In this most recent dispatch, Cotton describes the arduous process of renovating the Criamar playground. The former site of an open sewer trench, crumbling concrete, and generally unsafe conditions, the playground has undergone substantial changes at the persistent hands of the peace group.

Read about their progress and see pictures on their blog.

“I think had I gone to a larger school, like Berkeley, I may not have studied chemistry,” the San Francisco native said. “In that setting, the professors don’t have time to talk to their students, and maybe one in 100 students gets to do research at the undergraduate level. At Lewis & Clark, the undergraduates are the lab; there’s no one else but the professor, and, frequently, the students are in charge of their day-to-day assignments, tasks, and experiments.”

The liberal arts environment also encouraged Delaney to pursue coursework in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. She initially toyed with the idea of a major in psychology, a discipline she considers akin to chemistry.

“They both have puzzle-like qualities to them, but I think chemistry has a bit more, and that’s what I really like about the subject,” Delaney said. “I like to solve puzzles and figure out how things work. Psychology figures out how humans work; chemistry figures out how molecules work. They’re actually quite similar.”

Beyond her diverse academic pursuits, Delaney also tutored organic chemistry students, played violin in the orchestra, and joined the Student Academic Affairs Board (SAAB), the student-led grant-making organization.

“It was really rewarding to see things like the senior art exhibition and know that SAAB was able to fund those projects,” she said. “I was happy to be a part of helping people achieve such ambitious goals.”

Presenting Delaney the 2008 Rena J. Ratte award, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Julio de Paula commended her contributions to the laboratory, classroom, and community.

“Franny has a passion for knowledge and has learned that taking risks is essential to intellectual development,” de Paula said. “She has achieved greatness as a student, scholar, teacher, and leader.”

Delaney graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors this month, and she plans to pursue graduate work in chemistry or a law degree.

The Rena J. Ratte Memorial Award, established in 1970 by the colleagues, students, and friends of the late Rena Ratte, commemorates the distinguished philosophy professor by annually honoring one undergraduate senior whose work is consistently of the greatest distinction.

The students, seniors Casey Nelson and James Cotton and sophomores Betto van Waarden and Claire Battaglia, will establish community programs, communication and reconciliation workshops, facility improvements, and an interactive learning center in the interest of helping Criamar residents overcome the effects of neglect and abuse and become peaceful contributors to society.

With funding from philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis’s 100 Projects for Peace initiative, the group members will draw on their diverse backgrounds, interests, and skills to achieve their goals.

“We came together around this project because it offered an opportunity for all of us to use our knowledge and talent to accomplish the most possible good,” Nelson, a sociology/anthropology and biology double major, said. “We’ll be able to do much more than just donate money—we’ll be working alongside the staff and volunteers and bringing our experiences and education to bear on the problems facing Criamar.”

The group designed its project around providing the most sustainable impact with the time and money at hand. They will use the grant money—$10,000 from 100 Projects for Peace and an additional $2,500 from Lewis & Clark—to purchase computers, educational software, supplementary food, recreation equipment, renovation supplies, landscaping materials, and chickens.

“Each component of our project will generate long-lasting effects within the orphanage,” Battaglia, a political science major, said. “For example, giving the children access to computers will meet immediate needs for additional educational opportunities, but the technological aptitude they gain will also translate into valuable job skills in the future.”

The group also hopes to inspire social change in the community by cultivating connections between the orphans and neighborhood children, in the spirit of fun and recreation.

“It’s critical that the Criamar children get to connect with other kids in their area,” van Waarden, a history major, said. “In all the countries I’ve traveled to, soccer has consistently been a way to connect with people. We think that bringing together children from the orphanage and children from the surrounding community to play soccer will encourage that same kind of bond.”

Now in its second year, the 100 Projects for Peace initiative will allow students to undertake projects in the name of peace in more than 54 countries throughout the world this summer.

“The initiative is the perfect way for Lewis & Clark students to use their liberal arts education, their critical thinking and communication skills, and their creativity to solve problems and promote peace,” Greg Caldwell, associate dean of students and director of International Students and Scholars, said. “Lewis & Clark students want to change the world, and the 100 Projects for Peace initiative gives them a chance to do just that.”

Lewis & Clark students submitted 15 project proposals this year, more than doubling the total last year. Members of the group heading to Brazil argue that even the process of writing a grant proposal increases global awareness on campus.

“This initiative opens up serious discourse on so many levels,” Cotton, a biology major, said. “Students are forced to ask themselves, ‘How do you decide what constitutes the greatest need?’ ‘Where do you think you can make the biggest difference?’ ‘What do you think is the best way to do it?’”

Battaglia and van Waarden hope to continue that discussion when they return to Lewis & Clark in the fall, sharing their lessons in classes and symposia, and advising future program applicants.

UPDATE: Read dispatches from the group’s summer in Brazil and see pictures of Criamar on their blog, Cultivating Peace.

Listen to a conversation with Perez and learn about how he is already making a difference in Portland’s Latino community.

The program, which places eight students in Congressional internships, was created to provide an opportunity for students with disabilities to work on Capitol Hill and enrich their academic studies and professional experience. For Shectman, who is dyslexic, the highly competitive internship is just one more achievement in a series of academic and extra-curricular successes that include being named a Mary Stewart Rogers Scholar, making the Dean’s List, and volunteering in Portland public schools to help students with learning and behavioral difficulties.

Read about his internship and how he hopes to integrate the experience with his Lewis & Clark education to pursue policy changes in the future in the interview below:

Can you describe the internship program you were selected for and explain the type of work you’ll be doing?

I was selected to do a summer congressional internship as part of a program sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities. I’ll be working in Washington DC, in the office of Congressman Steny Hoyer, the Democratic Majority Leader in the House of Representatives.

My responsibilities will most likely include legislative research, constituent services, and giving tours of the Capitol to visitors.

What do you hope to take away from the program at the end of the summer?

I hope that by the end of the summer I’ll have a better sense of how legislation moves through Congress and what goes on in a congressman’s office. I’m thrilled to be doing this internship during an election year. I’ve been volunteering for Barack Obama’s campaign, and it will be fascinating to watch the way the campaign develops from inside Congressman Hoyer’s office.

How do you think the internship will fit in with your academic work at Lewis & Clark?

I’ve been majoring in international affairs, with a minor in communication. I’m hoping the internship will help me understand better how our government works. I know a fair amount about international affairs, but I am really hoping to gain an understanding of how domestic legislation works and about Congress’s role in making foreign policy decisions. I hope the internship will help me integrate theoretical issues with how things actually happen in practice. One of the great things about going to a liberal arts college is being exposed to different disciplines and being able to make connections between those and the outside world.

What college-sponsored trips have you participated in, and how have those experiences affected you—either in your major or, more generally, in your outlook or perspective?

I traveled to Kenya for fall semester and participated in a spring break service trip to New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina.

I grew up in a safe and comfortable home. I never had any worries about food or healthcare. But I also learned from my parents that many people weren’t so fortunate. It’s one thing to hear this and another thing to observe it first hand. My experiences in New Orleans and in Kenya, taught me about the real hardships that many people face. When I was in Africa, I was moved by how much the students I met appreciated being able to go to school to get an education.

What projects or programs are you involved in outside of the classroom?

The most important volunteer work I’ve done at Lewis & Clark has been with Dale Holloway, the coordinator of Student Support Services. I’m part of a group of Lewis & Clark students that meets with students in the Portland public schools who have learning or behavioral issues. We try to be role models for them and let them know that it is possible to succeed in college.

Also, I’m a very outdoorsy person. Two summers ago, I passed an extensive series of exams to become an assistant scuba diving instructor. Next summer, I hope to become certified with the Handicapped Scuba Association, so that I can bring my love of scuba diving to people with physical disabilities.

What are you hoping to do after graduation?

I plan to spend some time traveling, possibly back to Kenya and Tanzania, and I’m thinking about doing some volunteer work there. Afterwards, I plan to go to graduate school to study International Affairs.

After that, I could see myself doing a number of things. A position of some kind on Capitol Hill is certainly a possibility, as is working for an NGO. My time in Africa was really a life-changing experience for me, and I could see myself working on issues related to Africa.

Lewis & Clark students are among those preparing for the May 20th primary, as campus groups are engaged in discussions of how they can create the change they want to see in the leadership of the country.

Barackapella and buzz on campus

Junior Ben Brysacz joined the Barack Obama campaign almost a year ago, organizing a group of Lewis & Clark supporters on Facebook and registering with the official campaign.

The political science major from Tucson, Arizona, is no newcomer to the political process. He previously worked on a successful Congressional campaign and completed an internship at the Brookings Institution during a Lewis & Clark off-campus program in Washington, D.C in 2006.

Now a state coordinator for the Obama campaign and leader of Lewis & Clark Students for Barack Obama, Brysacz sees this election as an opportunity to move the country in a new direction.

“People are ready for something different,” Brysacz said. “The Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton pattern is not a sign of a healthy democracy, and this election is the perfect opportunity for young people to voice their opinion about what type of future we want for the country.”

After making calls to voters in Iowa ahead of the nation’s first caucuses and providing support for the Washington caucuses in February, Brysacz and his group are ready for the focus to shift to Oregon. Recently featured in The Oregonian, the group shows that it has no shortage of ideas or energy to advance the campaign.

youtube: l07COcgwmXU

Group member junior Isaac Holeman, a biochemistry and molecular biology major and member of an a capella group on campus, helped organize a concert as part of a series of Obama events on leap day. “Barackapella” featured a set of eight songs, including “Yes, We Can,” an internet-phenomenon-turned-Obama-campaign-anthem. A video of the group’s a capella version of the song got more than 20,000 hits in its first five days online.

Combating cynicism and going beyond party politics

Senior Graham Hopkins, a member of Lewis & Clark College Republicans and self-described Republican, decided to cross the party aisle to support Obama.

“I believe that Republican values can do a better job serving the American people than those of the Democratic Party,” Hopkins said. “But I think the Republican Party needs to confront the enormous contradictions of the past seven years. Only then, do I think a changed and united party will emerge, of which I can be proud.”

In the mean time, Hopkins, an English major from Gulfport, Mississippi, says he trusts Obama and believes that he will be a fair-minded president.

“Obama, more than the other candidates in the race, embodies the change and reform that our increasingly cynical society needs,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins counts himself in the political minority on campus and points out that, given the Democratic Party’s prospects of winning in November, he is surprised more students are not involved in campaigns or the election.

“I hope more students will show political support for whichever candidate they choose as the general election approaches in the fall,” Hopkins said. “Politicians will continue to overlook the concerns of young voters until we can demonstrate that our ideas are just as important as those of our parents and grandparents. If we want to change that, we have to get involved, and we have to vote.”

Students making space for objectivity on campus and online

One group encouraging students to look beyond individual candidates to larger issues, the Lewis & Clark College Democrats, has organized events to bring both Clinton and Obama supporters together.

The group’s leader, junior Nick Wirth, sees this exciting election season as a unique opportunity to bring young voters together around the issues, rather than candidates.

“We need to promote objectivity in the College Democrats,” Wirth said. “Despite individuals personal candidate preferences, we’re emphasizing our common goals by working on projects like voter registration and education. Our focus remains on the general election and on regaining the White House in 2009.”

Wirth, a political science major from Eagan, Minnesota, is well-qualified to lead such discussions. He began an internship with BlueOregon, an online community of Oregon Democrats, last fall, and he previously worked as a youth organizer for a U.S. Senate campaign in his home state and campaigned with the College Democrats for Governor Ted Kulongoski’s re-election in 2006.

As the BlueOregon fellow, Wirth distills the day’s news, providing links and sparking discussion of essential issues. The experience has inspired Wirth to pay closer attention to Oregon’s political news and has given him perspective about the nature of political discourse online.

Campaigns are increasingly turning to the Internet, where the young voters are. Facebook has played an unprecedented role in organizing voters during this election season, making it easy to identify voters by view or party and invite them to meetings or notify them about candidates’ platforms.

“I’m still trying to reconcile the impact of technology on politics,” Wirth said. “Venues like Facebook have given campaigns access to young voters and have allowed voters to tell politicians what they care about. In other contexts though, the Internet has given people a perception of anonymity, and the impact of that on the political discussion can be both good and bad.”

Resisting that potential for negativity, students on the campaign trail this year are focused on welcoming more people into a conversation about the country’s direction.

“I think that both parties, despite what the media suggest, have the best interests of the American people at their core,” Hopkins said. “The challenge now will be to move students to vote, volunteer, and just get involved in the process.”