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After recently agreeing to discontinue a shirt many found anti-Semitic, the Urban Outfitters clothing store on Bancroft Way is in the spotlight again after introducing a shirt that reads, “Voting is for old people.” 

Several local residents, including Andy Katz, who ran for city council during the last election, have called the store to complain about the shirts and ask that Urban Outfitters stop carrying them. 

Several months ago the store agreed to discontinue a shirt that read “Everyone Loves A Jewish Girl” embellished with money signs that several local and national Jewish groups said was offensive. In a recently issued statement, Urban Outfitters said they now reproduce the shirt with the same phrase but without the money signs. 

The company refused to comment on the latest brouhaha but residents say the decision to promote the shirt’s message is offensive and misguided, especially with two big elections coming up. They say it only adds to the growing problem of low voter turnout among young people. 

“This is a bad message to be sending to young people,” said Katz who recently sent out an e-mail asking people to call and complain to the store. “There is a major primary coming up and we have a president and a government who are asking young people to foot the bill for long term problems.”  

Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org, one of the organizations trying to turn voters out across the board said the young voters should absolutely be the group with the highest, not the lowest voter turnout, calling the shirts a failed attempt at humor. 

“[The youth] should be the group most likely to vote because they are going to be around the longest,” said Blades. Pointing out MoveOn.org’s own shirts, “Voting is not a spectator sport,” she said.  

“The message ‘voting is for old people’ is kind of telling,” said Anu Joshi, the vice president of external affairs for UC Berkeley’s student government and a member of the on-campus Youth Vote coalition. “Young people don’t think about voting at all.” The numbers speak for themselves, she said, with 20 percent of the registered electorate between the ages of 18-24 turning out during the last presidential election. 

She and others, who have pledged to not let the same thing happen in the upcoming election, say the problem is that politicians tend to shy away from issues that engage the college community such as tuition, financial aid, and family planning for the youth. 

“Politicians don’t really talk about youth issues so there is no incentive to vote. [But] because we don’t vote we’re not a threat [voter] group,” she said.  

There is also a disconnect at a local level, she said, even though the students make up a large percentage of Berkeley population. She does however, credit both Councilmember Kris Worthington and Mayor Tom Bates for their efforts to engage the campus. 

Eric Anthony, president of the Cal College Democrats, a partner in the Youth Vote coalition said he found the shirts “repulsive.” Anthony and other Youth Coalition volunteers are currently out on campus registering students every day to try and increase voter registration, but said they are waiting for the general election before they start another large-scale effort like the one they ran during the recall. 

That registration effort, which ultimately helped stop Proposition 54, was representative of the power the young voting block holds, said Joshi, with droves of students registering because the proposition threatened issues that would affect students directly. 

Anthony points out another issue that will affect students, Proposition 56, is on the upcoming ballot and hopes there is a similar push from students but he’s not holding his breath.  

“[The youth] don’t think their vote means anything,” said Anthony. 

Katz and others hope enough public pressure will help force the store to discontinue the sale of its latest controversial shirt. The number to call for customer complaints is 1-800-959-8794, and the store is open between 5 a.m and 5 p.m. Pacific time.