Students’ political awareness ranges all over charts

With the whirlwind of vicious political campaigning surrounding the country at the moment, how involved are Saratoga students in this national event? Although there is a misconception that high school students generally turn a blind eye to anything related to politics, SHS awareness during the 2012 election season ranges greatly.

Inevitably, there are always students who have no interest in the currently heightened political activity. One such student is freshman Matthew Li. 

“I don’t know anything.” said Li. “I don’t watch the news. For someone my age, I don’t think politics has much impact on my life as of now.”

On the other hand, sophomore Bianca Oliveri’s knowledge falls in the modest range, like the majority of Saratoga students.

Oliveri, who is pro-Obama, feels as though our country’s situation would change negatively if Mitt Romney becomes president because she feels like he doesn’t identify with the general public.

Junior Omkar Gaitonde, however, disagrees; he believes that Romney has the ability to re-energize the economy.

“What Obama tried to do [for the economy] failed every single time,” Gaitonde said. “I feel like if we get a guy like Romney with a strong, practical plan, the economy will begin to prosper and this country will do well.”

Other students, such as senior Fred Feyzi, fall into the narrow category of those who not only have strong political views but are also deeply involved in the campaigning. Feyzi recently launched a website with senior Shahab Moghadam called thepoliticalstudent.com, where he hopes to inspire more students to become involved in politics.

“I am personally a mainstream liberal,” said Feyzi. “I’m socially and economically liberal, and I support Obama because he’s definitely helped out the public even though he’s made some mistakes in his first effort.”

As Feyzi’s partner and friend, Moghadam has been involved in politics since the age of 10. Through the recent years, he has also met many prominent politicians.

“I stood behind Michelle Obama in a primary election rally and got a letter from Obama and got to see him speak,” Moghadam said. “At that moment, I felt for the first time in my life that my country was going in the right direction.” 

Moghadam is currently working for the Obama team “making phone calls to swing state voters.” 

“I think that [students being involved in politics] is important because it’s their future at stake,” Gaitonde said. “In the future our generation has to make a lot of tough choices; the actions we make will influence our lives, and that’s why we need to be aware of the decisions these politicians are making.”