With the North Carolina Primary quickly approaching on May 6, candidates from the Democratic Party have been increasing their presence in this state through various appearances and speeches. Curiously, however, all of the candidates have all but ignored the states major land-grant universities, including N.C. State. A personal appearance by Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton could make a big impact on the young voters in this area.

As the largest land-grant university in North Carolina, our University has direct ties to the state. We have an audience of approximately 40,000, voting-aged individuals — including students, faculty and staff. This is a presence that these candidates cannot afford to ignore. In a tight race like the Democratic primary election, it would be unwise for Obama and Clinton to take these votes for granted. The candidates need to come themselves and not send proxies or representatives if they hope to get their messages across.

In the other national party primary election Sen. John McCain has already clinched the Republican nomination, so it is understandable that he is not going all-out with his campaign in our state. At this point, however, neither Obama nor Clinton has a decisive victory in their sight and this University represents a prime location to appeal to the younger voting demographic for much-needed support. Unfortunately, the apathy of younger voters cannot be discounted, but a personal visit may be just the stimulus for a generally disinterested student to invest him or herself in this election. Since the beginning of March, Obama has visited various locations in this state, including Fayetteville, Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro. Clinton has also visited North Carolina and addressed voters at Wake Tech and also in Winston-Salem and Fayetteville. The closest we have come to direct contact with either of these candidates was Chelsea Clinton’s appearance in Talley Student Center Monday. Although her daughter was clearly passionate about Clinton’s candidacy, this session cannot have nearly as great an impact as a personal appearance by Clinton would have. The same goes for Obama or any other candidate.

So bring on the candidates, our votes are here to be won.