Politics – Mason Votes

By Mason Votes Staff Writer Ethan Vaughan

The George Mason University student body is home to a diverse range of political views and an equally wide set of beliefs about how those views are formed.

The students interviewed denied the conventionally-held notion that people’s political positions are determined primarily by their parents’ affiliation.

“My family and my religion influenced my beliefs initially,” said sophomore Tyler Stevens. “But that changed.”

Stevens said that, over time, he thought young people were likely to adopt political ideals opposed to their parents’.

“I definitely don’t follow the church so much,” Stevens said. “Entering high school, I started developing different views. My parents decided to start going to church more, and that kind of motivated. Everybody there put such a big emphasis on God and the Bible, and they took the Bible too literally. It had a negative impact, and it really turned me off. You can’t force someone to think a certain way.”

Stevens thought that friends’ political leanings were more important, theorizing that individuals gravitated to people whose ideas mirrored—and reinforced—their own.

Others agreed.

“My whole family’s Democratic, but that’s not the only reason I am,” said Senior Pujita Venkat. “That’s just a contributing factor. I went to a really liberal private school and most of my ideas came from my experience there.”

“I have always naturally tended to be liberal,” said Sean Jahan, a fourth-year graduate student. “I think it was more personality-driven than learned, although for most people it’s more nurture than nature. For me it was more nature.”

Overall, students tended to support President Barack Obama, confirming exit poll statistics from the 2008 election that showed 66 percent of 18-29-year-olds voting for the Democratic ticket.

“I wish health care reform was going through more quickly,” Venkat said, referring to the sentiment among some voters that the President is not enacting change fast enough. “But I can understand why it isn’t. There’s a lot of opposition. I honestly think it’s too early to judge him.”

Jahan said that political views were mostly set from an early age, and didn’t believe that subsequent life events in most cases had a major impact on them. “I don’t think that entering the workforce or starting a family really alters how you feel,” he said. “Most of my friends have the same political beliefs now that they did in college.”

By Mason Votes Staff Writer Ethan Vaughan

George Mason University Professor Toni-Michelle Travis is teaching an American State and Local Government class that focuses on Virginia and Fairfax County, giving students a firmer awareness of the political forces in the community where they live.

Over the years, the class has also featured guest speakers like city planners, state representatives, BOV member Vince Callahan, Delegate Tim Hugo, and former students who now work in state government.

Travis, who has been in the Department of Public and International Affairs for the last 25 years, teaches one section of the Government 304 course each semester which this fall has about 40 students.

Travis believes that by concentrating on such a specific area of government, her students will “gain an appreciation of the history, tradition, and culture of Virginia,and how the best-managed state in the country is run.”

It’s worth learning, she said, “Virginia is a unique and peculiar state.”

Among other things, students learn that Virginia is the only state in the Union whose governor is limited to one consecutive term, it stands alone with New Jersey in holding off-year elections, its budget covers a two-year rather than a one-year period, and its judges are appointed by the state legislature rather than being elected by the people.

Virginia is also a strict Dillon’s Rule state, meaning that a localities can only take those actions specifically allotted them in the state constitution.

“It’s a mother-may-I rule,” Travis said. “A few years ago, Fairfax County wanted to build a park, so they went down to Richmond and the legislature passed a bill approving it. After a few months, though, the park was overrun with weeds; the legislature had forgotten to put a clause for maintenance in the bill, so Fairfax County had to petition Richmond for permission to cut the grass. It covers even simple things.”

Travis’s students have responded well to her local approach.

Senior Erik Amason said that the class was “more interesting than it sounds” and added that Travis’s instruction “has increased my pride as a Virginian and made me think higher of our state in relation to the rest of the Union.”

“I was particularly interested in Dillon’s Rule,” Halima Ali, another of Travis’ students, said. “Virginia seems slow at accepting changes in the political system.”

Travis agreed. “I’ve never taught this course through the lens of Democrats vs. Republicans, because that’s not what’s going on; it’s urban vs. rural, NOVA vs. ROVA.”