Sarah Schuh, president of Student Senate, shared how UW-Eau Claire is promoting student voting Friday night when she appeared on Wisconsin Public Television’s “Weekend.”

Schuh, along with Dario Ganic, director of UW-Milwaukee’s student association, and C.J. Robinson, student government president at UW-Marathon County, appeared on the show for a roundtable discussion about student voters.

The three were in Madison during the weekend with more than 400 other UW System students for United Council’s Vote Conference.

“The conference itself is very high energy,” Schuh said Friday. “They will be sending us home with concrete tactics, concrete goals and concrete ways to accomplish those goals.”

On the show Friday, Schuh, Ganic and Robinson talked about why it is important for students to vote, what their campuses are doing to make students aware of the voting process and dispelled the myth that students don’t matter to candidates.

“The candidates definitely see the importance of students and the role they play in the state,” Schuh said.

Democratic candidate for governor Jim Doyle was shaking students’ hands in Davies Center last week the day before the election.

“It is great to see that candidates are coming to get support from students,” Schuh said.

She reminded students that Senate isn’t pushing any particular candidate on students.

“It is all about voting numbers, because when the budget comes around, if students haven’t voted, there will be no reason for legislatures to see students’ legitimacy,” Schuh said.

Chancellor Donald Mash showed his support for United Council’s Vote Conference by making a personal donation of $100.

“(Voting) is a part of our heritage,” Mash said. “It is connected to the freedom we have and the role we have in making decisions. I certainly commend our student leaders on our own campus as well as on United Council for making this a priority.”

Starting to vote early in life makes it become a good habit, Mash said, and that can become a positive influence on other civic engagements.

Senate members attended workshops at the conference to develop a campus plan for getting students out to the booths on Nov. 5.

Part of UW-Eau Claire’s campus plan will be to try to organize a candidate forum so students can see what each candidate stands for.

Senate will concentrate on getting a lot of student organizations involved. Senators also will concentrate on talking to students one-on-one and being widely visible on the day of the vote, Schuh said.