{"74038":{"#nid":"74038","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Student Fights Political Apathy in New Book","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnyone who says college students are apathetic about politics hasn\u0027t met Georgia Tech student Alexandra Pajak. A published author at the age of 23, the first-year graduate student has two works that appear in the new book, \u0022What We Think: Young Voters Speak Out.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EReleased last October, the 288-page book is a collection of essays, poems and photographs written by 18- to 24-year-old students from nearly 100 universities. The mission, said co-publisher Rob Grabow, is to prove that college students are anything but apathetic.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think college students are very aware of what goes on around them,\u0022 said Pajak, \u0022especially with the Internet and the many media sources that are out there.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPajak\u0027s contributions to the book take a very personal approach to politics. \u0022These big ideas like democracy play out in everyday life,\u0022 she explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of only eight authors to have two works in the book, Pajak wrote the poem, \u0022An African-American Step Show\u0022 and the essay \u0022On Being Different in the South\u0022 while she was an undergraduate at Agnes Scott College. While very different in style, both works speak to the different ways people respond to being alienated from the larger culture.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We were attracted to Alexandra\u0027s contribution, \u0027On Being Different in the South,\u0027 said Grabow, \u0022not only because of her wonderful storytelling ability and the fact that it is remarkably well written, but also because it spoke to the nature of prejudice and the notion of might making right. Her contributions were among the best.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPajak said she got involved with the book after responding to an e-mail asking for political writings to address the perception of political apathy amongst young people.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lack of political discussion results in bottled up feelings and bottled up questions about the way people live,\u0022 said Pajak. \u0022It makes for a dangerous undertone in the community. Without discussion, it makes it easy to misunderstand. It\u0027s important to talk.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, she\u0027s been very impressed with the level of political discussion she\u0027s seen at Georgia Tech. Unlike at other universities, where political correctness seems to stifle honest political discussion, Tech\u0027s student body is very willing to talk, she said. \u0022The atmosphere allows for a freer exchange of ideas.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPajak is in her first year of a graduate program in the School of History, Technology and Society. After getting her degree, she plans on pursuing her interest in political writing in academia or journalism.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe book was published by College Tree Publishing, which was founded by Gonzaga University seniors Grabow and Dean Robbins. They are which is in the midst of compiling more essays for \u0022What We Think II\u0022 and \u0022What We Think About God.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPajak is scheduled to sign copies of the book at the campus bookstore in early March.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Anyone who says college students are apathetic about politics hasn\u0027t met Georgia Tech student Alexandra Pajak. A published author at the age of 23, the first-year graduate student has two works that appear in the new book, \u0022What We Think: Young Voters Speak Out.\u0022","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alexandra Pajak takes politics to a personal level"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2005-01-28 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:30","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-02-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2005-02-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"74039":{"id":"74039","type":"image","title":"Alexandra Pajak","body":null,"created":"1449178037","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:17","changed":"1475894686","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:46"}},"media_ids":["74039"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}