FRONT PAGE

CAMPUS NEWS:
     WINTERM
     NEW PRES
     FRANCE
     ALUMNI

SPORTS:
     PICKS
     GOLF
     VBALL
     
FEATURES:
     SIMPLE

OPINION
     FAN

PROFS:
     LEY

SENIOR PROFILE
     JACKMAN
    
A&E:
     CELEB VOTE

FOOD 4 THOUGHT
     REALLY?

PAST ISSUES

Arts and Entertainment

by Adam Stahl
Exchange Staff

      In this past week, celebrities have been using their influence to try to encourage Americans to register to vote.

     One of the most active celebrities in politics this week was actor Leonardo DiCaprio who appeared in and produced a public service announcement (PSA) that stormed Youtube recently.

     "I mean, seriously, ... after this whole video — if you're not gonna vote, I don't even know what to say... You know you have to vote," says DiCaprio.

     The PSA DiCaprio produced in conjunction with Google features celebrities ranging from Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston to Jonah Hill and Ashton Kutcher who spend the first half of the video trying to use reverse psychology to almost somewhat offend the viewer and make them think "yeah, perhaps, why not?" The video then proceeds to have the celebrities wait above a link where they are waiting for "you" the viewer to go register to vote.

     Overall, it is a very well done video and, frankly, is funny. Hill and Silverman add some comedy spotlight while the other celebrities just continually pound the viewpoint of "voting is not worth your time because such poignant issues cannot beat out you play Scrabble on your computer."

     The video, entitled "5 Friends" urges you to tell, register with or bring five or your friends with you when you go to register or vote in what would become "rampant like herpes but for a positive," jokes comedian Sarah Silverman in the video.

     "There's a lot of buzz about turnout this year, but one in four Americans still aren't registered to vote," Google posted on their website based on U.S. Census figures and reported by the Associated Press.

     Entertainer Bow Wow likewise took up the cause for registering young voters by scheduling a 15-city tour where he and registered voter followers will walk the streets of cities like Atlanta, Ga.

     "I used to think going to the mall and hollering at girls (was) more important," said Bow Wow, "but in reality, we are in a different time now. My focus now is to take it a step further to make a change and vote."

     Some celebrities however have already chosen their sides and are ready to do battle, such as musicians Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen who have both agreed to play different legs of Barrack Obama's presidential candidacy campaign this week. Jay-Z will be performing a free concert in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday in order to promote voter registration in Michigan whose deadline to register is Monday.

     Springsteen already headlined Obama's campaign at Eastern Michigan State University on Monday and has agreed to play more shows including another free acoustic show in Oestrike Stadium at EMSU as well as shows in Philadelphia, Ohio State University and a show on October 16 in NYC with likewise legendary artist Billy Joel.

      It is somewhat, disappointing that in the past few elections celebrities have had to try and sway young voters even to just vote by advertising as they would for a clothing line or an upcoming movie but as least celebrities are doing what they can. In the past, campaigns like P. Diddy's "Vote or Die" campaign had positive response, but not overwhelming enough that PSAs such as Google's are still greatly needed to persuade young voters into registering alone.

     The "5 Friends" video can be found on Youtube.com and in one day has already reached over 150,000 viewers.