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S P E C TAT O R Right to vote at 17?
VOLUME 92 NUMBER 6
By Kristen Van Tine News Editor
A recently passed Illinois law permits 17-year olds to vote in primary elections. Teenagers who will turn 18 by the November election will all be able to legally vote for their desired candidate or issue, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. However, permitting 17-yearolds to vote in the primaries may not affect the results of the General Election. “In the primary election after all, voters are merely nominating the candidates who will run in November, so if anything, the law changes only the Democratic and Republican electorates,” said Northern Illinois University Political Science Professor Matthew Streb the Chicago Tribune reported. The bill was signed into a law last summer by Governor Pat Quinn on Stevenson High School’s football field in Lincolnshire. Stevenson’s Social Science Department worked relentlessly to pass the bill. Government
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Teacher Andrew Conneen was especially keen on having the “Suffrage at 17” law being put into effect. More than 11,000 17-year-olds voted in the Primary Election. However, it seems that either very few, if any, LFA students took advantage of this new opportunity. The lack of participation in the primary voting may be a result of the new law not being properly publicized. “The new law should have been publicized more. If I had known I could vote, I would have voted in the primaries,” said junior Stanton Cope, who turns 18 by September, so under the “Suffrage at 17” law he could have voted in the March elections. United Press International reported that Rep. Carol Sente, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the allowance was “only fair” because 18-year-olds “are already voting for candidates in the general election.” .In recent years more states have permitted 17-year-olds to vote in the primary elections. Roughly 20 other states have passed the “Suffrage at 17” law to date.
Some LFA members, however, are hesitant to support the state’s decision to drop the voting age for the primaries. “Anytime you get more people involved in the democratic process it is a good thing. But voting does come with the responsibility to know more about the issues at hand. So if people have this priv-
Theresa Zaiff, Dean of Students Office Manager, fills out a voter registration form allowing a student to vote in the upcoming election. Students who will be 18 by November were able to vote in the primaries.
Parents Association planning an “Out of this World” Pre-Prom party for LFA students
By Mary Kate Patton Editor-in-Chief
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able to vote. They tend to be juniors enrolled in US History, so they are learning sufficient background information regarding politics, but dropping the voting age any lower than 17 would be a bit strange,” said junior Madeline Sommer.
Photo by Miranda Dunne
This month... NEWS Wi-Fi? Why, Yes!
ilege to vote, they should not take it lightly—they should be educated very well about the issues,” said Mrs. Diane Cooper, a history teacher. On the other hand, there are many avid supporters of the new law. “Seventeen-year-olds have enough political education to be
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Every year the students of Lake Forest Academy wait with intense anticipation to learn the location of Prom, but it is up to members of the Parents Association to plan the Pre-Prom party every year. This year’s prom will be at the Discovery World Museum in Milwaukee and the theme will be “Out of this World”. The Parents Association is known for its work on Pre-Prom, but this group of parents does much more behindthe-scenes work to support the LFA community throughout the year. According to Mrs. Mary Ellen Patton, the new President-Elect, Pre-Prom planning begins in ear-
ly February where Junior Class representatives and students meet with members of the Parents Association. The Parents Association works closely with the Junior Class to help fulfill the vision for decorations and food. “The Parents Association works very closely with the students during the planning process. After the initial meeting, we will have a follow-up meeting at the end of March to ensure that we are executing the students’ vision for their party,” said Patton. “We are blessed to have a generous and talented group of parents in our school community.” The Pre-Prom party is not the only event that the Parents Association is in charge of during the year. Other big projects include the Caxy Life Auction, Harvest Hope, the Faculty and Staff Ap-
preciation Dinner, and the Spring Gala. The Parents Association also handles the Caxy Care exam packages, Chipotle lunches, and volunteering for Caxy Concessions at sporting events. The current projects that members of the Parents Association are taking on include the Gala and finding “Ambassadors”, existing parents in the LFA community, to help new families whose children will be attending LFA in the fall. The Gala is a major fundraising event that will be taking place on May 3. All parents of LFA students are members of the Parents Association and are welcome to volunteer for any of the upcoming events. The board members of the Parents Association are elected
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