BY COLIN HICKEY

Staff Writer

Don't talk to Waterville City Clerk Arlene Strahan about college students being politically apathetic.

Strahan said she's been told to expect that about 600 Colby College students will descend on City Hall later this month to vote early in what is a presidential-election year.

"They have set up a Colby day," Strahan said. "They will be here on the 24th (of October), and they will be busing them in."

Strahan said more than 300 Colby students have already sent in their voter-registration forms.

Colby government professor L. Sandy Maisel confirms that voter interest is high on Mayflower Hill.

"I think there is clear evidence of it," he said. "The Young Democrats themselves have registered 500 voters, which is astounding."

Maisel added that about 300 Colby students participated in the Maine Caucuses this summer.

Colby is not the only college where students are energized about this year's elections.

The interest and impact of young voters became a story when Barack Obama surged to victory in the Iowa Caucus largely on the strength of his support from voters 25 and under.

Jenna Vendil, Maine field director for the League of Young Voters, said her national organization is seeing this phenomenon across the country.

"There definitely is a huge interest in voting, especially with this upcoming election," she said. "And I think it goes way beyond Obama."

The Maine Secretary of State's elections division currently shows 46,386 registered voters in the 18 to 22 age group, according to spokesman Don Cookson.

But Cookson said similar data from 2004 -- the last presidential-election year -- is not available.

Anecdotal information from both Democratic and Republican campaigns, however, reinforces the belief that young voters are taking an active role in this year's races, particularly the presidential contest.

James Melcher, a political-science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington, has seen this rise in interest firsthand, although he argues the surge started long before the latest battle for the White House.

"I would say interest is high," he said, "but I would say the bigger jump happened from 2000 to 2004. I would say it is a little higher now (than in 2004), but not a quantum leap."

Melcher argues that the disputed presidential vote in Florida made young people realize the importance of a single vote.

"They saw the importance of electoral politics," he said, "that a small number of people can make a difference."

Almost overnight, political activism sprouted and blossomed at UMF.

"When I started teaching at UMF in 1999," Melcher said, "we didn't have a College Democrat or a College Republican chapter. Now we have both, and they are both highly active."

Sophomore Alexander Willette, president of the Maine College Republicans, is among the most active of those UMF students.

He said during the last three or four weeks, UMF students have made 1,000 calls each week to urge voter registration.

Willette said the current state of the economy is motivating many students to become involved in the election.

"People are starting to realize the glory days of waking up and going to class are coming to an end," he said. "We have to find a job after this, and everything you see on the news right now is economic crisis, economic crisis."

Colby sophomore Lauren Nivison is active on the Democrat side, volunteering nine to 10 hours a week to do data-entry work for the Obama campaign.

In her case, though, the inspiration to get involved is not a bad economy.

"Sen. Obama's message of hope and change is what really inspired me to get involved," she said.

Nivison, too, said she sees strong interest in the presidential election on campus.

What she does not see is strong leanings on either side of the ticket.

"I don't think it can be identified as strictly conservative or strictly liberal," she said of the atmosphere. "I think we have a pretty good mix of ideas going on on campus. I think everybody respects everybody's beliefs."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com