Boston--Officially 20-year-old Eric Karian got on the ballot for the Boston mayoral election this November. Karian, a political science major, got the idea to run for mayor from a Boston Phoenix article that ran last fall describing the problems with the current Bostonian political system, and essentially invited in any student motivated enough to effect change.
And change is exactly what Karian has been up to. As part of a mass student registration effort, many schools in the Boston and Cambridge area, including Boston University and Harvard University, will for the first time incorporate voter registration with class registration next fall. The effects could be to register enough students to raise them to almost majority status, which has many other politicians quite concerned.
"These kids don't realize what running the city involves, and the potential for harm in this situation perhaps far outweighs the good," Boston City Council member John Howards said. Karian responded by saying "If I am elected, hopefully I'll be surrounded by good people, of which Mr. Howards may or may not be included." Those kinds of fighting words from both sides are indicative of the mounting tension between the older and younger factions that seem to be developing.
Incumbant mayor Frank Cimanello tried to make things cordial by saying, "If Eric Karian can get students involved in the political process, it can only be good for this city and the country, since that's what democracy is based on." When asked about what Cimanello thought Karian would do with the office, Cimanello said, "I think he'd learn an awful lot."