As politically active young adults around the country voice concern on issues occurring in the nation’s capital, there may also be a growing number of college students less inclined to act.
Boston University alumnus Mikal Din proves he represents the former group.
Din currently stands as a top-seven finalist in the “Stand Up for Freedom” contest, a competition designed to allow young adults to convey their opinions through different media outlets on a range of contemporary issues.
Now in its second year and hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union — along with entertainment and marketing company Zilo Networks — the contest allowed Din and more than 3,500 applicants the opportunity to express their ideas on different forms of human rights.
Entries were accepted in either a long essay format or Public Service Announcement, with seven finalists being chosen for each category. The pieces will be judged by a panel of public figures and industry professionals that include filmmaker Ron Howard and musician Carlos Santana.
Marsha Zeesman, the ACLU’s Director of Campaigns and Special Projects, said “the beauty of the PSA contest is that something like what Mikal has produced can be viewed by an enormous group of people who then can go out and make changes in their own way.
“The contest is a way to get outside the textbook reading of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” she continued. “[It] really lets young people explore creative ways of looking at these things.”
Din said he was both surprised and happy about his selection into the final round.
“I was a little bit nervous,” he admitted in a phone interview from New York. “Whenever you put time into something that you think is creative and original, there’s always that feeling that the outside world won’t appreciate it … that’s just part of the risk.”
A College of Communication graduate, Din waved goodbye to BU with a Film and Television degree in 2001 and since then has studied abroad, worked on filming and editing television commercials and music videos and aspires to jump into feature films.
THE RIGHT THEME
After hearing about the ACLU contest through a friend active in civil rights activities, Din decided to give the competition a shot. He confessed that choosing the right topic out of the contest’s selection of racial profiling, censorship and the USAPATRIOT Act — and then expressing it in a 30-second PSA — proved to be challenging. He decided censorship was his best theme.
“I felt censorship was something that could be explained through a visual medium,” he said. “It best fit my creative capabilities.”
Once Din developed a storyboard and took the necessary steps to obtain a studio, lights and a female child actress, he began production.
His PSA, titled “Scratch Out Censorship,” portrays a young girl in a standard frame with her voice-over, explaining what she did during the day. By drawing sketches suspended in mid air, she creates images describing her day’s activities. However, the voice-over delves into subject matter highlighting Iraq and the gun-death statistics.
Din explained that as the subject matter takes a more serious turn, the girl starts scratching out the things she has written.
“It’s very childlike and innocent, as far as with the visuals and the crayons,” he said. “I liked the visual contradiction, that whole sweet innocent voice talking about these serious things.
“It makes people question, should she be saying that, should she know that?” he continued. “Just to get a kid to say these serious things in a serious way, but to have the imagery be bright and cheery … that just naturally attracted me to doing it in that kind of tone because it brings up conflicting emotions within people.”
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said he was pleased with Din’s political involvement, saying that youth participation in issues concerning liberties and rights is imperative for the future.
“It’s nice to hear that an alumnus is engaged in trying to get a message out there to the broader society,” he said. “Civil liberties are one of those important things that the American society is mindful of … they are the foundations of what this society and country are all about.”
THE MESSAGE
The contest aims to express opinion on political issues ranging from civil rights to gay and lesbian rights, which the ACLU has defended for more than 80 years. It is also what Zilo Networks President and Creative Director Campbell McLaren said their company works toward presenting to college students — encouraging them to discuss and understand these key ideas.
Zilo, through its network, reaches its 10 million viewers — 6.5 million of them college students — through outlets that include television and online media, as well as in both on- and off-campus events.
Still, McLaren stressed how important it is for college students to connect to the important political issues of the day.
“It’s critical for the country,” he said. “America’s going to be run by this crop of current college students in 15, 20 years.
“If you’re not actively developing a political viewpoint and learning to express it, [college students] are literally followers,” he continued. “I think the point of college, regardless of what you’re studying, is to use your intellect and use your training and use your education to understand the world better.”
McLaren said he believes advanced technology in internet use, computers and genetic research will allow the current generation to have greater power.
“When you think about the ethics involved, when you think about the startling changes that will come about,” he said, “college students are going to be faced with pretty serious stuff to deal with.”
THE BU OUTLET
With ever-changing issues circling the nation, the question of whether the university provides enough political outlets — or whether the BU student body sufficiently cares about those outlets — raises concern about a possibly apathetic campus.
“I think we have a big problem with apathy at BU,” Spectrum President Sarah Prager said. “There’s a lot of important issues that students can get involved with, but I think the majority of them don’t.”
As BU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered social organization, Spectrum helps anyone interested in learning about sexual identity and orientation issues. Prager explained the lack of active interest — the group has 15 to 20 active members — is problematic for gay rights activism in today’s society.
“I personally feel [gay rights] are the civil rights issue of our generation,” the College of Arts and Sciences sophomore said. “In relation to it, options are pretty limited on campus.”
Other student organization leaders said they agree that disinterested students can be a morale setback for an organization. Joe Mroszczyk, president of the BU College Republicans — a group of 20 to 25 active members — expressed confusion as to who to blame for low student participation.
“There’s a lot of apathy it seems,” the CAS junior said. “I don’t know if that’s primarily the students’ fault, the university as a whole or a combination of both, but it doesn’t seem like there’s as many political events on campus as some other campuses.”
Din said although he wasn’t very involved in campus activities during his time at the university, he feels he could have been with more encouragement from BU student organizations.
“I wish there was more opportunities that BU had to express their political beliefs,” he said. “It’s a really big school, but it’s still important to student life to know what’s going on.”
McLaren said he believed it to be crucial for a college to play a role in motivating its students to become informed of different political issues.
“College students arguably should be the smartest people in the country,” he said. “And if you are unable to motivate your peers to be [the smartest], who is going to be making decisions for America?”
Zeesman encourages students, even before they enter college, to take initiative as soon as they become aware of issues that may affect them or their peers.
“One of the most important things is that young people understand that you don’t get your rights at a certain age,” she said.
Dean Elmore, who hosts Coffee and Conversation — a weekly forum where BU students and faculty discuss current political and ethical issues — said part of the reason he wants people to come is for them to find and feel a comfort level in communicating their personal ideas.
“There’s an expectation when you go through a private four-year experience where you’ve had great opportunity,” he said. “Society expects that [the BU community] take leadership roles seriously.”
BU College Democrats President Peter True said he feels it can be difficult to have student involvement at BU because of its urban setting, where students often spend their time with other activities.
“Being in the city, it’s extremely hard to have people getting involved,” the CAS senior said. “More students need to think about political issues now and how they’re going to influence them.”
With hundreds of student organizations registered at BU, group leaders said they still feel there is room for improvement on a campus brimming with more than 30,000 students.
“There can always be more outlets to express political beliefs,” Mroszczyk said. “I don’t think there’s ever enough, and I certainly don’t think there’s enough at BU.”
Yet Elmore believes student involvement is present on campus and within any student’s reach.
“I don’t think any BU student is short of having an opinion,” he said.
Still, Din said he hopes students open their eyes to the possibilities attainable through involvement, especially because these issues will play a vital role in their future.
“To the BU student, put down your schedule for five minutes,” he said. “Try to find out what’s going on in the world, say something about it and do something about it.”