“It seems to me what you’ve got now is renewed energy and vigor in the legitimate political process,” he said. “You don’t have that galvanizing issue like the draft. It’s a big difference.”

Student voting doubled, tripled and quadrupled in several states during the primary season when compared to 2000 and 2004 numbers, according to Rock the Vote.

Advertising senior Griffin Cummings, a fan of Republican Party favorite Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said President George W. Bush’s two terms could significantly affect MSU’s voter turnout.

“A lot of people don’t support Bush right now, and a lot of people think it’s time for change,” he said. “I think a majority of college students would be a more Democratic vote, and I think that’s probably going to sway it a lot.”

What Garnett is concerned with, though, is whether student activism will stay strong as the candidate field narrows.

Marketing freshman Kalyah Ford supports Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., but said she probably wouldn’t work to further the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., if she gets the party nomination.

“I would probably take more of a backseat approach,” she said. “I guess Hillary would be a good candidate as well, but I would prefer Obama.”

Mordechai Kreinin, a university distinguished professor of economics who has taught at MSU for more than 50 years, said two eras surpass this year’s campus political involvement: the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.

Kreinin said a struggling economy and an important foreign policy issue, such as the Iraq war, generally breed increased activism.

“We had a bad recession in the early ’80s, and in Michigan it was a depression,” he said. “Beginning in 1983-84, we started a fairly vigorous recovery, so I don’t remember much student activism.”

Steve Ross, state of Michigan coordinator of Students for Barack Obama, said he constantly receives e-mails from students about donations.

“More than ever, students are taking an active role and having an impact,” Ross said.