Gen Y Gearing Up for 2012 Election

June 29, 2011 by Tamara Bell

[HTML1] As we prepare to celebrate our country’s 235th birthday, and with the 2012 election season just months away, it’s never too early to gear up for participation in one of our fundamental rights.

Chris Copsey, the Director of Legislative Research with Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit online resource for information about presidential, statewide, congressional and state legislative races, joins Keeping Up with Gen Y to talk about how Gen Y need to start researching candidates and issues now to be informed participants in the 2012 elections. He also discusses how voting is an enviable right that Gen Y should exercise at every opportunity and at all levels of government.

More about Chris Copsey
Chris Copsey is the Director of Legislative Research with Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit online resource for information about presidential, statewide, congressional and state legislative races. Since January, the nonprofit organization splits its services between two locations: the University of Southern California and The University of Texas at Austin.

A graduate of Ball State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History, Chris spent a year doing postgraduate work at The University of Sheffield in England before coming to Project Vote Smart in summer 2009, working in their Montana office as a legislative research associate. In January, he began managing the program in Austin, which houses the Key Votes Program.

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About Tamara Bell

Tamara Bell is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Y Gen Out Loud, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that provides a platform for Generation Yto discuss national politics and public policy issues.

Tamara began her journalism career as a staff reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. A few years later, she moved to York, Pa., as a political reporter for the York Dispatch, covering local, state, and national government as well as writing investigative stories for the mid-sized daily newspaper.

A Texas girl at heart, Tamara returned to Dallas a year later to work as press relations director for the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. John Bryant. The next year, she moved to Austin and the Texas Legislature, where she stayed for 15 years. While at the Legislature, Tamara worked for Democratic House members as Chief-of-Staff and Press Secretary, and as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Senate State Affairs Committee chaired by a Republicansenator.

In 1996, Tamara became co-owner of a political newsletter covering state issues and elections. As Editor-in-Chief, Tamara helped shape the weekly publication into a must-read for state officials, legislative aides, and lobbyists. More recently, Tamara wrote a regular column analyzing coverage by the Texas Capitol Press Corps for an online political publication. She also works as a lecturer in the Advertising Department at The University of Texasat Austin.

Tamara has also been a judge for the 2010 Bright Ideas Award given by the Texas Daily Newspaper Association, served as a panelist at the Society of Professional Journalists 2010 Region 8 Conference where the theme was How to Save Journalism, and has been a guest lecture for the Advertising Department’s Internship course, speaking about the jobs outlook for graduating seniors.

Tamara earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin, and her B.A. in Journalism from Texas A&M University. She resides in Austin with her son, Jackson.

Tamara Bell is also the Host of Keeping Up with Gen Y on WomensRadio. Keeping Up with Gen Y offers discussions, interviews, and commentary about important issues of the day from the perspective of Generation Y (18-to 30-years-old). Aimed at all generations interested in learning about and inspiring young people, this show features professionals, experts, researchers, and members of Gen Y who share insights and experiences about the topics on the minds of today’s young adults.