CHICAGO--MTV's "Choose or Lose" bus sat beside the main entrance to the United Center, its reporters on the floor of the Democratic National Convention seeking commentary from anybody under the age of 25.
They didn't have to look far.
Young Democrats were in the spotlight all week, during a convention whose delegates' average age was the youngest in its history.
Marilyn Concepcion, a Brown University sophomore, was one of three college students who delivered five-minute speeches before the crowd.
"I saw so many young people, and it really looks like President Clinton cares about what we think. I definitely think that he's listening to what we have to say," said Concepcion, a former Americorps member.
The Democratis Party, hoping to be called the party of young people, gave college Democrats prime-time attention, and politicians mainly expressed support for their proposals.
David E. Wade, president of the College Democrats of America, took the podium and implored students to vote--and to remember that Republicans wanted to cut $6 billion in student loans.
"Although I may be young, this isn't kid stuff," Wade said, emphasizing with his very appearance that young people are gaining political influence.
"We have 100,000 students active on a thousand campuses. A lot of that sort of coincided with the Republicans taking over Congress and their attempts to cut student aid." Wade said in a telephone interview this week.
"It was a huge wake up call," said the Brown University senior, who is taking time off this semester to work full time with the College Democrats.
The College Democrats' membership has jumped 40 percent since 1994.
Some have pegged today's generation of college students as "apathetic" because 1960s-style protests have disappeared.
But 13-year-old Stephanie M. Dodge said politicians just don't take students seriously.
"Some of the delegates and representatives are like, 'They're just kids,'" said Dodge, a reporter for Children's Express, a non-profit organization in which teenagers write news.
Wade said he thinks student activists are very interested in government, citing President Clinton's Americorps program as proof.
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