Students share polling results with secretary of state

Just before Thanksgiving last fall, students in Jill Young's business statistics class at Southeast Missouri State University voted on questions about social issues, smartphones and health care, using touch-screen machines.

On Thursday, members of her class presented the results via webcast from Dempster Hall to Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander. The questions centered on whether students planned to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act by age 26; whether the Affordable Care Act will lower health-care costs; and whether students used cable TV or DISH.

On signing up for ACA, with 273 students voting, 61.9 percent said they would not sign up and 38.1 percent said "yes."

On the cost question, 41 percent said the ACA would lower costs and 59 percent said "no."

On the cable vs. DISH question, 70 percent said they used cable, 26 percent DISH and 4 percent did not vote.

Other questions touched on smartphones, social networking, same-sex marriage and social media's effect on interpersonal communication, attention span and academic performance.

Two touch-screen Diebold machines on loan from Henry M. Adkins & Son Inc. were used.

This is the first time Young, who teaches in the Donald L. Harrison College of Business, tried a project like this. Her doctorate is in information systems with a specialty in electronic voting systems. During the 2010 election cycle, she followed the process from Election Day to the postelection audit. She conducted her research in St. Louis County, Missouri.

"I think it went well," Young said in an email. "We had a good discussion after the presentations. [Kander] seemed to accept that improvements were necessary. He asked for recommendations. I think the door is open for further discussion."

The secretary of state's office is responsible for providing a computerized voting system, she wrote.

Gerald S. McDougall, dean of the College of Business, sat in on a preliminary session when students practiced their presentations.

"And I was impressed with that and now I've sat in on a couple of these final presentations and it seems to be going very well, so I think it shows how we can take advantage of an experiential component and benefit the students, but also maybe contribute something to a broader discussion," McDougall said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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