The Nation: Student Power in East Lansing

THOUGH youth and students at Michigan State University account for more than half of East Lansing's 47,500 population, they have been without influence—and thus uninterested—in the town's affairs. Until last summer, that is, when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that college students could register and vote locally. Spearheaded by an organization named VOTER (Various organizations to expand registration), student and adult volunteers set out to recruit 7,500 new voters this fall. Registration tables were set up on campus and free bus service offered from dorm and off-campus student residences to City Hall...