INPIRG sponsors free concert, registers voters

Bands, free food, local politicians, prizes and a warm, sunny day attracted students and Bloomington residents to Dunn Meadow on Saturday for a “Get Out the Vote” concert.

Sponsored by INPIRG, the event featured free food from Qdoba Mexican Grill as well as raffle prizes from several stores. Four local bands with a wide range of styles played.

Mike Vinopal, guitarist for the classic rock band Dopplelganger, said his band’s music was fitting for the concert, because it plays powerful music from the “heavy” times of the 1960s and 1970s. He drew parallels about what was happening then with Vietnam and now with Iraq.

He said there’s a lot of apathy in today’s culture because people think they’re voiceless, but they’ve got to care and keep trying.

“That’s where revolution comes from,” he said. “That’s where change comes from.”

The purpose of the event was to register more voters, INPIRG public relations director and senior Lindsey Lucenta said. They hoped to register 300 students, though turnout was low because it was during the football game, and the goal fell well short, Lucenta said.

The event was part of a larger effort to get students registered before the Oct. 6 deadline. But the message about registering and voting extended further.

“Don’t vote irresponsibly,” said Susan Sandberg, president of the Bloomington city council, in a speech between bands. She urged students to know what the candidates stand for, to vote intelligently and to vote in their own best interest up and down the ballot.

Speaking in Dunn Meadow reminded her of IU in 1972, Sandberg said. The 26th Amendment had recently been ratified, changing the minimum voting age to 18. It was ratified in the midst of the Vietnam War when many people not old enough to vote were being drafted and killed.

Sandberg said she voted for peace in that election.

INPIRG invited Sandberg and Mayor Mark Kruzan, who didn’t come, to speak in hopes that students will become more involved in local politics, Lucenta said. For the time they’re here, students are part of the community, she said.

Sandberg said there was no reason for students not to know the local politicians because many have Web sites stating their positions, and local media broadcast profiles of them.

Junior Ed Gibson agreed with Sandberg, saying before voting, people need to know what the candidates stand for to make sure they vote for someone who has views consistent with their own.

But he wasn’t sure about voting in the local elections.

“I honestly probably won’t vote for local politicians,” he said.

He said he didn’t think many students would vote in the local election and some would maybe vote a straight ticket.