Princella Smith is young and black. She's also loyal to the Republican Party and President Bush, and encourages her peers to become involved in politics and their communities.

Her support for President Bush goes back to a speech he made in her home state of Arkansas promoting the No Child Left Behind Act.

"He encouraged the people around my age, or maybe a little younger, to continue in the volunteer work that they were doing," she said recently from her home in Wynne, Ark. "I was very moved by his address that day. I thought, 'We're not Generation X, the label that many people have tried to give us. He wants us to be an example.' "

To show her support, the 20-year-old entered the "Stand Up and Holla!" essay contest sponsored by MTV and the Republican National Convention, which asked entrants to explain the importance of the president's call to service and how they have demonstrated it in their own communities. The winner received a trip to New York to speak at the Republican National Convention.

A similar contest was held for the Democratic National Convention in July. It was called "Speak Out For The Future" and asked entrants to explain why young people should become involved in politics. The winner, Michael Negron, 24, of Memphis, Tenn., spoke at the convention in Boston.

Online voting decisive

MTV received about 1,000 entries for each contest, with 10 finalists selected from each. Thousands of online votes were cast on ChooseorLose.com to determine the winners.

Princella won the RNC contest and spoke at the convention at Madison Square Garden, joining Barbara and Jenna Bush and Chief of Staff Andrew Card at the Youth Convention.

Y-Press and our colleagues at 8-18 Media in Marquette, Mich., recently went to the Republican convention and interviewed Princella and four other "Stand Up and Holla!" finalists: Daniel Sharpe 20, of Bexley, Ohio; Adam Hunter, 20, of Somerset, N.J.; Clarence Dass, 18, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; and Nathan Imperiale, 19, of Lake Arrowhead, Calif.

All have extensive experience in community service, ranging from helping with soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity and search-and-rescue operations to working against racial profiling and voter apathy. They see such work as vital to the nation.

"Community service is the foundation of our country. Without community service, our country will truly fall apart," said Clarence.

The finalists also have extensive experience in politics.

Princella has worked in the office of the Arkansas lieutenant governor, and Nathan has been an intern for two members of Congress from California, while Clarence worked on Bush's 2000 campaign, and Adam and Daniel have contributed to various GOP efforts.

Politics serves country

They agree that politics is a form of community service.

"Voting is a right and a priv ilege that was bestowed on American citizens. And when we do that, we serve our country," Princella said.

Clarence agreed.

"Community service and political activism are essentially the same thing, because if you're active in politics, you're really doing a service to your community, regardless of what you feel," he said.

"And if you're doing a service to your community, then you're doing a service to politics because the two are so intertwined."

But many youth don't see it that way. Voting by young people ages 18 to 24 has dropped 15 percent since 1972, according to the nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, while community service among the same age group has stayed steadfast.

Politics undervalued

Adam explained that youth get more payback from service in their communities than they do from involvement in the political process.

"I think a lot of us don't get involved in politics because of the bureaucratic process, and that there's no fast resolution within politics. And we understand that if we volunteer today, somebody will eat today, and that we can actually see results through volunteering," he said.

Nathan says that view is short-sighted.

"The youth today don't realize that they have a huge say in who gets elected, and they can make an enormous difference in politics," he said. "They can really change our country."

He says schools deserve part of the blame in luring youth to community service and away from political involvement.

"A lot of schools put a lot of emphasis on community service. They want kids to get out and help improve their communities. But unfortunately, schools aren't putting enough emphasis on politics and civics."

Princella hopes to persuade other young people that they can do both.

"If we could even get it up to 30 percent of people nationwide our age that would vote, we could really determine the tide of the election."

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Y-Press members Allison Gardner, Andy Goldblatt, Emma Hulse, Jordan Denari, Izaak Hayes, and Katie McDowell attended the Republican National Convention in New York City, joining 8-18 Media from Marquette, Mich., and Children's PressLIne of New York City.

Y-Press members also attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston. This is one of several stories from Y-Press's convention coverage.

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Who we are

Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

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