Some students may feel like national policy issues are beyond their reach. The Cornell chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, a student-run think tank, however, is attempting to change that.

"The gap between academia and the public sphere is far too wide," said Tim Kreuger '08, a founding member of the Roosevelt Institution at Cornell. "We need a trans-university network of students to bridge that gap."

And the Roosevelt Institution is working to provide that with some 40 university chapters nationwide that focus on the same issues and formulate policies to address them. Top proposals are compiled by the Washington office into a short publication that is then shown to legislators.

Last year, the Cornell chapter had two policies published. This year, two more policies will appear in the first issue of Roosevelt's international publication, and Kreuger expects five or six additional policies to be published in their domestic publications.

This year, the Cornell chapter of about 25 members focused on democracy, community development and criminal justice. Cornell students discussed their policy proposals before about 25 people at the expo "Forging the New Progressive Movement," Feb. 7 in Willard Straight Hall.

"Our chances of writing something that turns into legislation are increasing," Krueger said, pointing out that the Yale chapter presented a policy on predatory lending to congressional officials in Washington, D.C., and helped author a bill.

At the expo, Eric Smith '10, director of the democracy section at Cornell, said that his group focuses primarily on how to increase voter turnout. He cited a census that showed that most people who don't vote either forget to vote or are disinterested.

Smith, along with Emma Marshak '10 and Sam Cross '11, developed a policy proposal that would provide incentives to vote and help remind voters of Election Day and registration deadlines.

The plan would call for certain businesses to clearly display important dates for voters. Voters would receive some proof of voting that they could then use to receive discounts at participating businesses.

The plan would simultaneously boost sales and generate publicity for businesses by creating a "good citizen" image, said Marshak. She added that they are considering running a pilot program in Ithaca.

The community development focus is "based on the idea that a strong society comes from strong communities," said Nina Zhang '09, director of the community development group. Proposed policies include hip-hop music education, methods of raising additional work-study funding for college students and providing incentives for landowners to use sustainable practices.

Before the final policy submissions, students receive a lot of feedback from professors and experts in the field to help steer students in directions where they would be most effective, said Keuger, who serves as the national staff criminal justice coordinator. Additionally, Roosevelt has its own national editorial board comprising nine members, including Julie Geng '08, the director of the Cornell chapter.

Sara Gorecki '08 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.