Voting is the new black

It's cool to vote! I've been on college campuses during presidential primaries for three of the past four election cycles (in '96, I was an undergrad; in '04 I was working at a university; in '08 I'm back in grad school), and never before have I witnessed so much buzz about exercising this right we get as Americans -- especially for a primary.

I stood in a line of about 30 people at the polls today, and I was the oldest one there by a good 7 years. Because I live near campus, my polling station was actually on campus, so I had the opportunity to walk through throngs of undergrads with Obama and Clinton posters (I have to say, I didn't see many McCain and Romney posters), all of whom seemed to be wearing their "I voted" stickers with pride. It was fun. There's nothing like an election year to make people optimistic about the future of the country, and that's exactly the kind of excitement and passion that's healthy and productive for colleges in the U.S.

Back in my days in college (I spend one afternoon among the undergrads and all of a sudden I'm writing as though I'm 80 years old), the following relationship applied: enthusiasm for our basketball team winning > enthusiasm for a beloved professor winning the Nobel Prize > enthusiasm for voting in national elections > student support for the football team. Yes, our football team was THAT bad.

Whatever the motivations are for getting people out to the polls, I'm all for it. Maybe people want change, or maybe they just want to be heard. All I know is that it feels like the '60s here in Berkeley today...only with fewer protesters, less looting, and much less tie-dye.