Professor finds students recognize celebrities over public officials

The second-to-last Athenaeum Series, "Preparing the American Idol Generation for the Political Future," was held at noon April 18 in Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University. More than 50 Southeast students and community members attended.

"Basically, what the series looked at was the attitudes of the millennial students, focusing on SEMO students, in terms of political awareness and political knowledge," said Dr. William Miller, guest speaker and Southeast political science and philosophy professor.

Miller defined the millennial generation as anyone born between 1982 and the present. Miller showed slides of pictures of celebrities and public officials and asked the audience to identify them. According to Miller's previous research, Southeast students and faculty were able to identify more celebrities than public officials.

"I thought it was kind of shocking at the statistics that he did show," sophomore political science major Paige Bailey said.

Miller also presented two members of his data team, Southeast students Aaron Griffin and Zach Chinea, to help explain what types of research and focus groups were used for his studies.

Griffin and Chinea explained the process of the study. Both said students had informed opinions on what was happening in the news, but seemed to know more about the celebrity life of Justin Bieber.

Following the presentation, Miller left the floor open for questions. An audience member asked if the millennial generation will cause new political parties to develop. Miller said this probably wouldn't happen because of the current parties' ability to draw in the younger generation to a traditional standpoint.

"I thought it was very informational, or very relatable, to our generation," sophomore political science major Lauren Reiche said. "I think it's changing just because of how media access is so easy to get to. Since people can get news in five seconds, they are more likely to know about stuff."