Kerry Errs at HYPE

To the editors:

I was in attendance at the Harvard Youth for Political Empowerment (HYPE) rally Oct. 15 (News, "HYPE Pushes Voter Registration," Oct. 16), and I thank those students with the Institute of Politics who took the time and effort to plan the event, which was a great success. I find it a terrible shame, however, that in his remarks to the audience, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) chose to spoil an opportunity to inspire students by imparting a partisan political message for himself and Vice President Al Gore '69.

The message of the day was to encourage an underrepresented element of the population to get involved and to vote. Kerry was the only speaker who drifted from this message to promote partisan political interests.

In explaining why young people are so politically apathetic, the senator pointed a finger at the detached public figures in Washington. As a registered voter in Massachusetts, I can say that behavior like that displayed on Sunday by Kerry is what disgusts me about the current state of American politics, and one does not have to look to Washington (only the Quad) to be sorely disappointed.

I would hope that in future appearances at non-partisan events, Kerry would show the integrity and appropriateness inherent in his office.

Brad Olsen '03