Last week, I attended the cafe by Professor Altschuler. I was intrigued by the depth and level of insight that Professor Altschuler put in towards evaluating why people vote and the reason why creating polls nowadays is so challenging to rely on in order to predict voting. In that sense, I was able to evaluate how despite the advances in technology, this has not come to polls. For example, it was mentioned how polls are not able to track location on people’s phones which is why it is not a good indicator of poll results. I feel, that there should be a technological device, where based on the decision making, and actions of people, these are used as metrics to evaluate voting patterns. In thinking about why certain other technologies are not used, it is probably because of fear of the element of bias, which is a valid argument. However, I do believe that more research must go into how proper tests can be created to evaluate polling decisions.

As Professor Altschuler was discussing this idea, I kept thinking about how even though college students have the most to lose with the election given that we are the up and coming generation, that we are less likely to vote. For college students and millennials, it can sometimes be that given that we care so much of advancing our own futures and doing well, that we forget about these external influences(elections) that will long-term affect how well we do. In that regard, in order for college students to more affirmatively get involved in the voting process, I believe that this requires an evaluation of short-term versus long-term gains.