College students' participation is crucial in deciding which way the presidential elections will swing in November, according to voter registration groups such as Why Tuesday? and indie-rock band Death Cab for Cutie. To encourage students to vote, the band partnered with voter registration groups to organize the Ultimate College Bowl.
Speaking for his bandmates, Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla said in a national phone interview that the band thinks that it's vital for college students to vote in the upcoming presidential election. The band will play a free concert for the college campus with the most students registered to vote.
"The whole goal of Ultimate College Bowl and us being involved in it is not about the candidates this time," Walla said. "It's just about getting people to register and ultimately turning people out to vote."
Barnett Zitron, a Why Tuesday? representative, said the Death Cab for Cutie concert is the grand prize for the college that registers the largest number of students to vote during the Ultimate College Bowl, a voter registration competition hosted on MySpace in partnership with MTV and voting education groups like Declare Yourself, Rock the Vote and Head Count.
For smaller schools, the grand prize will be awarded to the school that registers the highest percentage of students. The reward will be a concert by a band to be announced. Runners-up and individuals who register the most students to vote will receive a $10,000 scholarship, Zitron said. The contest will run from Sept. 1 through Nov. 4, the day of the election.
"It's nice for us to feel like we can do something, and participating in this competition just seemed like a perfect fit for us," Walla said. "I felt like it was gonna work. I feel positive about it."
Walla said that he hopes that college students realize they can truly make a difference in this year's election.
"This is a big presidential election year, and I think it's really important I think for people to understand and get connected with issues that affect them," he said.
The contest is running via an application and widget available to all college students at www.myspace.com/ultimatecollegebowl.
