By Pete Gutschenritter
Assignment Editor
The Northwest Missourian
Northwest Missouri State University
With the Nov. 2 general election inching closer, one national organization targets arguably the most overlooked demographic: Missouri college students.
Youth04, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, has stormed college campuses across the country since 2003 in hopes of getting politicians to notice the 18-25 year age demographic.
Since that time, they have 50 chapters. The goal is to increase that number to 200 chapters by Oct. 1, according to Youth04 spokesperson Caitlin Noble.
While they have chapters at Columbia University in New York and University of California-Berkeley, Noble said she has struggled finding people interested in Missouri.
"Being a swing state, we wanted to get some chapters in Missouri," said Noble, who also serves as a chapter developer. "But I've had a difficult time getting any responses from anyone there."
Youth04 is a grass roots organization, Noble said, because they let the colleges and universities operate on their own once a chapter is established. The underlying goal for a chapter is to be heard, Noble said.
"The No. 1 thing is people need to be aware of college students," she said. "Just make sure (politicians) know you are there." A chapter consists of a chapter leader and as few as 3-4 chapter volunteers, Noble said. And while Youth04 is nonpartisan, chapters can be organized by other campus organizations. In some cases, there are two different chapters within a college or university.
Regardless of who chairs a particular chapter, Noble emphasized the importance to get involved on campus.
"We want to empower the youth and get involved," she said. "We want them to be more aware. Our founder, David Anderson, says being deaf to students is being deaf to the future, and we work with that mindset."
Youth04 works exclusively from its Web site, www.youth04.org. Students interested in starting a chapter can contact Noble at cnoble@gwu.edu.