“I’d like to get more direct contact between students and politicians, and not just at election time,” Glickman said. “I’d like to see this on a national level as well. I think there is a crisis in this country, with respect to the lack of young people involved in politics. There is currently no national concerted effort to engage younger people, but I think we are in a uniquely good position to do this here at the IOP.”

The survey is the third in an annual series that the IOP has conducted, and many of the questions had been designed to measure undergraduates’ attitudes toward current political events.

The results state that while most students conditionally support military action against Iraq, they do not support the reinstatement of the draft.

Forty-four percent said that if they were drafted, they would seek an alternative to service, but 69 percent of students believe that the U.S. should act with the support of allies if UN inspections fail.

The survey also found that traditional student concerns, such as educational reform and the economy, have taken a back seat to terrorism and the possible war with Iraq.

When asked what most concerns them, 33 percent mentioned a terrorism-related issue and 25 percent mentioned the crisis in Iraq.

The survey was conducted in late October. Survey questions and the report were authored by a team of Harvard undergraduates working with IOP staff and fellows and a national opinion research firm.