CEDAR RAPIDS STUDENTS LOBBIED FOR CHANGE

Columnist David Yepsen calls Gov. Tom Vilsack's executive order
granting voting rights to ex-felons simply a tactic to gain votes.
There is another possible reason that he leaves out. For the first
time, a group of high school students lobbied on behalf of voting
rights for released felons.

Other groups, including the Iowa League of Women Voters, the Iowa
Civil Liberties Union and Justice Reform Consortium, as well as
several legislators, have worked on this issue for years and have
made tremendous progress.

However, this year, a group of students from Metro High School in
Cedar Rapids made a full-fledged effort to change Iowa's policy
toward people who have served their time and completed parole or probation.

They gathered information from state agencies, lobbied at the
Legislature, negotiated with committee members on bill language,
built a coalition of other schools and individuals, presented
proposals to the governor's office and generated widespread press on the issue.

Several people, including the governor's staff, state representatives
and civil-rights activists credit the students' work as the impetus
toward getting this historic action accomplished this year. We should
recognize the efforts of these young people. Let's celebrate our
democracy when it opens the doors to more participation by its citizens.

Let us also celebrate the commitment of our young people when they
fight for, and sometimes even help enact, real changes in our society.

Mike Cervantes

Iowa City