About Jonathan Gainer

As the first African country to transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, Benin has been hailed as a "beacon of democracy" by the British Broadcasting Corp. and has attracted admirers worldwide. The Beninese have former President Mathieu Kerekou to thank for that.

As the first African country to transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, Benin has been hailed as a "beacon of democracy" by the British Broadcasting Corp. and has attracted admirers worldwide. The Beninese have former President Mathieu Kerekou to thank for that. Kerekou, who assumed power in 1972 and governed for more than 20 years, became a Muslim, a born-again Christian, changed his name

About 600,000 Serbian youth live in poverty, often without adequate health care or schooling, according to UNICEF. Thousands don't even have parents to love or shelter them: More than 7,500 live in orphanages with little chance of ever being adopted. Spurred by racism, Serbs and ethnic Albanians have been embroiled in conflict over control of the region for more than a century.

Former President George H.W. Bush was in Indianapolis earlier this month to speak at Butler University. Six Y-Press members attended the speech and also were able to ask him a few questions beforehand. While a few approached this "brush with celebrity" with awe, others had braced themselves to hear what they thought would be some stock political talk. By the end, however, they all agreed the forme

As the political gambits of the 2008 campaigns kick into high gear, involvement by youth is higher than in any election. According to the Pew Research Center, overall youth turnout - voters ages 17 to 200 for the primaries has increased five percent from the 2004 election.

It took a while, but the Blunt Youth Radio Project has helped Gavin Bauer find his voice.

In Mississippi, the summer of 1963 was a violent one — 30 black homes and 37 black churches were firebombed, and more than 80 civic activists were beaten. The following summer, about 40 Freedom Schools were opened, dedicated to creating "an educational experience for students which will make it possible for them to challenge the myths of our society, to perceive more clearly its realities, and to find alternatives — ultimately new directions for action," in the words of founder Charles Cobb. Though the program floundered through the years, it was reborn in 1992 with the support of the Children's Defense Fund.

This election, much fuss has been made about the voting potential of young adults. Candidates have reached out to youth through social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, and in frequent visits to college campuses.But part of this demographic has long been overlooked.

Considering how important young people have been to this election cycle, it's not surprising that their journalistic peers have the same enthusiasm for covering it.