Written Testimony - Johns Hopkins University, MD

Democracy Matters coordinators have been working alongside Progressive Maryland (www.progressivemaryland.org) to help promote and try to pass a Clean Elections bill in the state of Maryland. Esther Bochner, campus coordinator at Johns Hopkins University, submitted the following written testimony to the state's House Ways and Means committee, urging them to pass the bill and send it to a floor vote. Her efforts proved successful!

Students at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, are plagued by the same illness affecting millions of students nationwide: cynicism. We are tired of seeing the same diluted pool of candidates dominate local, state and national elections due to incredible financial burdens. We are frustrated by the amount of qualified individuals incapable of making a difference because they are incapable of attaining the funds necessary to compete with wealthy candidates. We are unhappy with the current electoral system in which politicians are forced to spend more time and effort raising the money needed to run a competitive campaign than focusing on the issues and concerns of the people they aspire to represent. We are no longer content to sit by and hope for the best. That is why hundreds of students at the Johns Hopkins University have united in support of the Clean Elections Bill.

The bill provides us with hope for the future of Maryland politics. In recent years, campaign costs have increased exponentially, and the best candidates are unable to run for office or win elections because of the hurdles they encounter, not in effecting their policies, but in raising enough money. Clean Elections would allow qualified politicians who have proven themselves through collecting enough qualifying contributions to receive public funds for primary and general elections. This would help level the playing field between promising candidates and their wealthy opponents, and consequently produce elections that are about who would accomplish the most for the state, not who has the most money.

To students at the Johns Hopkins University, the Clean Elections Bill represents more than just a hope and excitement for the future of Maryland politics; it marks significant progress towards producing the ideals of equality our democracy strives to achieve. People of all races, genders and social classes will have the opportunity to run for elected office. Students who are jaded by the current, static process are invigorated by the possibilities that Clean Elections would introduce. The prospect of participating in a system where individuals are no longer inhibited by financial constraints, and all citizens possess equal opportunity to effect real change has revitalized the Hopkins campus. We are eagerly monitoring the progress of the state and federal bills for Clean Elections, and anticipate the bright, vibrant, optimistic future of our country.

-peace-

Daryn Cambridge
Eastern Regional Director

Political Spelling Bee - Hofstra University, NY

On Wednesday, April 11, from 8:00 pm to10:30 pm was the 4th Annual College Democrats Spelling Bee. My chapter of Democracy Matters, the Hofstra Democrats, and the Hofstra Republicans sponsored the event. I personally didn't come up with the idea. The fact that it was the 4th annual spelling bee means that it has been around for a while; all I did was co-sponsor it. In planning for the event, we needed to know which organizations would be sponsoring it with us, the projected amount of people in attendance, the room needed for the event, and the amount of food to buy. We raffled off new iPod shuffles and gift cards and provided free food, thus making for a respectable turnout. The words chosen for the event were all political in nature; as a way to educate the contestants and the audience about politics. I was able to pass out some Democracy Matters information to those in attendance of the event.
The Spelling Bee itself worked in the typical format, there was a judges table set up on stage, a host for the event (dressed like a bee) to call up each contestant and read them their respective word, and seats on stage for the contestants. The challenges faced by this event were, for the most part, technical in nature. Since the Spelling Bee was in an auditorium, equipment needed
to be set up and sounds checks had to be performed. Overall, there were minimal problems with the event.

Bradley Schloss
Campus Coordinator
Hofstra Democracy Matters