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Connor Greenwall:
Welcome back to the podcast! This week, we talk about why classes should be excused on election day.
Ava Peguese:
Also, a full recap of the election as well as editor-to-editor.
Connor Greenwall:
I’m Connor Greenwall.
Ava Peguese:
I’m Ava Peguese, and this is State Press Play.
Kylie Saba:
Hi. I'm Kylie Saba, podcast editor and producer for State Press Play. Today, I'm speaking with George Hedley, politics editor, and Matthew Marengo, multimedia Managing Editor. Both of our editors today have worked hard this semester behind the scenes of the political events and rallies leading up to the election. Hi, guys.
Matthew Marengo and George Headley:
Hello.
Kylie Saba:
What is it like being in the field and behind the scenes of political campaigns?
George Headley:
I personally believe that when you're looking at it behind the scenes, you see a completely different perspective of both sides. Um, especially with campaigning on campus in particular, you see almost a, um, a different strategies being implemented by both parties, especially both campaigns, that prove to appeal to either demographic, right? We saw this a lot with the Trump Vance ticket, kind of targeting more towards Greek life. We saw a lot of Greek life for Trump. A lot of, you know, Charlie Kirk, Carey Lake, those kind of political figures showing up, versus the Harris waltz ticket, when more towards engaging with students through like celebrities, having celebrities pop up, doing pop up tents, or having very, you know, engaging political figures show up, like Beto O'Rourke, Maya Harris, right? These, like, very prolific figures. And when you look at it behind the scenes, you see all of it, right? And some students, they see, you know, maybe they see a tent or a pop up event, you know, they're like,
Kylie Saba:
Oh, that's interesting.
George Headley:
As you follow these campaigns, right? As you follow these events happening, you start to see familiar faces. You start to notice people who are regulars. And when you really talk to them, begin to understand them. You see almost a um, a passion and involvement from both parties, from both students who are interested, willing and involved to, you know, be a part of something, be a part of a movement that they heavily agree with, right? And I think that is something that's really special, especially with being here on a university campus, is that you have the opportunity to do that, you have the ability to be involved, you have the ability be passionate about things like this, and really apply it in a way that you think shows value, right? And sometimes it does show value. And I think overall, that it kind of reignited my, um, my belief that, you know, students should get political, politically involved, right? Students should show their, you know, their passion for they should show their involvement, because it does enact change.
Matthew Marengo:
I can add that, like, as a, you know, student journalist, it's very interesting because, as you said, you see the same people. You get to meet a lot of people, especially in the media, and you really are treated like no one really treats you like a student journalist. They treat you like a journalist. And I think it could be said in the same way that, like people don't just treat you as students, if you're going there for the event, they treat you as voters. And I think that's one thing that it's like a very it's a very good vibe at those kind of places where they really do, like care. And I mean, like on both sides, they care about the people at those events, because obviously they want them to vote for them, you know, they have to care. But I mean, it's just very interesting to see the ways they act. And not everyone's always the best of the media. Obviously, there are a lot of people who have a lot of distrust in the media for valid and sometimes and kind of invalid reasons. But yeah, it's just very interesting to see the
George: it's also interesting to, you know, most of these students, this is the first time they're really being engaged in a general election, right? And a lot of student journalists, you know, they're covering an election race for the very first time, right? And with that, you see a almost a new generation getting involved using different tactics that you normally wouldn't see from past campaigns. Right? We saw a heavy emphasis on, like, social media, right? Like tiktoks, that kind of stuff, right, appealing to, you know, different trends that are happening, you know, around the year, you know, Brad summer, that kind of stuff. But you see that a lot with these, like new students who are getting involved in these campaigns is they're using strategies that aren't, weren't really mentioned or really applied as much as they are now, right? And it's, it's a unique angle that a lot of student journalists, of course, as we first, you know, cover these things. It's a shift, and we don't notice it. But a lot of you know, veteran journalists, or journalists who have been in this for a very long time, they do notice that, and do understand the difference between, you know, what really happened this election versus what happened in other elections, right? And I think that is that's a unique trait that we see, is that as we are new student journalists, and as we see these new students, it's it's almost a clean slate, right? We're entering a new generation that's willing to apply different methods and different strategies to their campaign to either better it or to at least provide some value to their party going forward.
To hear more from George and Matthew, please tune in to State Press Play.
Ava Peguese:
Hello everyone! Today I'm joined by Emra Muslim, one of our many hardworking political reporters here at the state press. Emra is a political science major in her junior year. She is passionate about politics and helps take action by being a member of the young Democrats at ASU. Her passion shines through in her latest article about why ASU should permit students to miss classes on election day. Emra, you talked about ASU’s dedication to civic engagement, yet they do not have a policy exercising students on this important day. What led you to talk about this issue?
Emra Muslim:
Yeah, I mean, so I work with the League of Women Voters in Arizona. I interned there, and through that internship, I got the opportunity to be a poll monitor, and that is basically observing what's going on at the polls on election day outside of the 75 foot line. And so I could have done the whole shift, which was from 530 to seven, but you know, since it is a Tuesday Election Day. I have class at 130 and I did not want to miss class because it is my health law and policy class. It's a project excellence class. So as a junior, I get to take law classes at the Sandra day O’Connor law school. And you know, finals are coming up, so I'm like, I'm not going to miss class. And so I know also a lot of other students who were not able to vote by mail, or they just wanted to drop off their ballot, and they want to vote in person, and they want to they don't have the time to vote on election day because of classes, right? They have a full schedule. We're all students. We're all very busy. But, you know, we see this, you know, from ASU, we had all, you know, before the election day, we had a lot of voter registration tablings And a lot of events that ASU hosted, just trying to get students civically engaged and aware of, you know, what's going on in the election and getting registered to vote. But yet, they didn't excuse classes on election day, and I know that they gave the faculty kind of their own discretion, if they wanted to excuse classes or not, but not as a, you know, whole wide, university wide policy, which I think is super important, because I know some of my friends, they had class off, but some didn't, and I think that's really unfair for those who didn't, but still wanted to get the chance to vote, and then they got in line at like, 5pm which, like polls close at seven so, and it was a huge line, like at the sdfc, there was like hundreds and hundreds of people, and people were waiting in line for hours. And I just feel bad for those students. So I me being a political science major and being, you know, politically active in local politics, I think that as a university ASU, really should have stepped up and excuse classes On election day.
Ava Peguese:
You highlighted in your piece that young voters are sometimes hesitant to participate in the political process. What do you think excusing classes could do to help the reluctance?
Emra Muslim:
Yeah, I mean, I think excusing classes would definitely make a statement. We get class off for a lot of holidays. And, you know, we talk about it, oh, we have veterans day off. And that really, like, sets the conversation going. You know, what is Veterans Day? What is, you know, we talk about these holidays. And so I think just starting off the conversation, getting friends to talk about, you know, I have class off. Let's go vote. It's just, you know, setting that tone and precedent for students to be mindful and just aware of what's going on in the world.
Ava Peguese:
Some people may argue that mail-in ballots or early voting make excusing classes unnecessary. How would you respond to that narrative?
To hear more from Emra, please tune in to State Press Play.
READ MORE: Opinion: ASU should excuse classes on Election Day to encourage civic engagement
Connor Greenwall:
The election has now come and gone, and most of the races have been decided. How did those turn out? Firstly, former President Donald Trump is the presumed president-elect and will be sworn in as president on January 20th. With all of the states called, Donald Trump passed the 270 mark required to make him the 47th president of the United States.
To hear more from Connor, please tune in to State Press Play.
Connor Greenwall:
And that's all for this week episode of State Press Play, I'm Connor Greenwall
Ava Peguese:
And I'm Ava Peguese. State Press Play is produced by our podcast desk editor, Kylie Saba. Our original music is by Ellie Willard and Jake LaRoux.
Connor Greenwall:
Special thanks to our managing team, Morgan Kubasko and Matthew Marengo.
Ava Peguese:
You can check out all these stories and more on statepress.com. See you next week
