Even though first-years had barely stepped foot on Colgate's campus last week, Adam Zimmermann '10 didn't waste any time getting the Class of 2012 fired up to vote.
Recognizing a golden opportunity, Zimmermann, president of Colgate's Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE), decided to integrate a voter registration drive into Link orientation meetings.
"We figured this was the year to kick off a different way at Colgate," Zimmermann told The Christian Science Monitor.
SAVE's effort was highlighted in a recent Christian Science Monitor story about campuses that are going beyond traditional voter registration programs "in an attempt to turn Election '08 into the educational opportunity of a lifetime."
"We're trying to get something much more systematic and ingrained in the culture," added Zimmermann.
He considers the new initiative a step in the right direction. During last week's orientation, about 175 first-years registered to vote.
Meanwhile, geography professor Ellen Kraly is making headlines for climbing to the top of Mount Rainier in Washington state -- one of the country's highest peaks.
The Post-Standard (Syracuse) has been tracking Kraly's climb with her son, Jim, to raise money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Kraly, a breast cancer survivor, told The Post-Standard that beating cancer is a lot like climbing mountains -- both empowering and humbling.
"It was a very moving experience," she said. "It had looked so large in my imagination. To have done it was something that meant a lot to me personally."
This was Kraly's second climb; four years ago, she took on Mount Baker in Washington state.
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