People's Climate March

Letter to the editor: Register to vote now

To the Editors:On Thursday, September 4, I was walking through Smith Union, and I noticed that two representatives of a Maine non-profit organization were registering students to vote. While I was glad that students had this opportunity, I was concerned that the two representatives were trying to persuade a student who obviously wanted to vote in his home state to register in Maine.
Bowdoin students have every right to register to vote in Brunswick if they consider it to be their residence. However, students who do register become subject to the same laws concerning driver’s licenses, automobile registrations, and income taxes as other Maine residents.
I recommend that students visit the website of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU and search for “Student Voting Guide.” The guide explains voting laws in each state.Students who want to vote in other states should be aware that many states have much earlier deadlines for registering and requesting absentee ballots than Maine. For example, Massachusetts requires mailed voter registration applications to be postmarked by Wednesday, October 15; New York requires them to be postmarked by Friday, October 10; and California requires them to be postmarked by Monday, October 20.
The Brennan Center’s Student Voting Guide contains links to voter registration applications and absentee ballot request forms that may be printed and submitted by mail. For some states, there are links to websites where these documents may be completed and submitted online.If you start the process now, you will have plenty of time to mark your absentee ballot and return it to your state by Election Day.
Michelle A. Small ’86

Letter to the editor: Vote yes on Question 1

To the editors:
I’ve never seen myself as a political person. When I heard that our state is the very last one to still allow bear trapping, hounding and baiting, I felt a lot of embarrassment—this is not “the way life should be.”
These practices are unnecessary and cruel. I’m speaking up to support a “Yes” vote on Question 1 and to tell my fellow Mainers how much I want to see cruelty banned and fair chase restored.
Last year, my friends and I began volunteering for this cause, gathering signatures for the ballot. It was a really energizing and rewarding experience! Now that Question 1 is on the ballot, there’s even more to do to get ready for Election Day. If you haven’t, I encourage you to visit www.YesOnQuestion1.com/Volunteer and sign up to volunteer today. Please vote YES on Question 1.
Thank you,Susan Baker-Kaplan

Letter to the editor

September 12, 2014

To the Editors:
Over the past two months, you’ve probably received an email from me imploring you to come to the People’s Climate March.

Given the amount of spam you have received, I feel it necessary to give my own motivations for marching in New York.

Roughly two years ago, Hurricane Sandy touched down in lower Manhattan. It knocked out my power and flooded my neighborhood. While I only waited weeks to return to my routine, for many of those close to me, it was months before the healing process even began.
In the following months family friends would come over in search of reassurance and/or some basic appliance. In these interactions I was given a window into those unthinkable moments of panic, the decisions over which family keepsakes to save and which to part with.

And so, I march to reclaim some sense of ownership over the city that I saw downtrodden in unimaginable ways. I march to raise attention so that we may all bear witness to the damage and pain that Sandy still wreaks, two years on.

Though we cannot directly connect climate change to Hurricane Sandy, the increase in extreme weather events across the nation frightens me. I ask my peers to consider their own stories. While we often view climate change in abstract terms, all of us are inextricably tied to the warming of our planet.

I’ll be there, President Obama will be there, hundreds of thousands of people will be there. Will you?

Kenny Shapiro ’17

Comments are permanently closed.