VOA标准英语2010年-Tapping Tomorrow's Leaders With Today'

Maya Enista's millennial¹ generation utilizes² social media to build a stronger democracy

Rosanne Skirble | Washington DC 22 March 2010

Maya Enista launching a new Mobilize.org initiative on Nov. 11, 2009, with Sway from MTV.

Maya Enista is living an American dream.The daughter of immigrants is a driving force behind registering hundreds of thousands of young voters and engaging them in the democratic process.

Enista's parents came to the United States from Romania in the late 1970s for political asylum³. She says they worked hard so that she and her brother, born in the early 1980s, could have opportunities in a free country.

"My mom cleaned houses. My dad drove taxis. And they sort of re-built their American dream," says Enista.

Raised in Maplewood, New Jersey⁴, just outside New York City, Enista says as a kid she was embarrassed by her parent's foreignness. But as she got older, her heritage became central to her own identity.

Defining moment

Her first day at Rutgers University, near New York City, was September 11, 2001. On her way to math class, she got news of the attack on the World Trade Center. "I think that that really spurred my decision to go into public service because I didn't understand the world that we lived in when this happened," she says. 

At the time, nearly two-thirds of 18-to-24-year-olds did not vote so Enista joined a summer campaign with Rock the Vote. She supported the group's mission to register young voters. Enista continued that effort while she finished college.

"For the last two years of school I was the East Coast coordinator⁵ and managed voter registration⁶ from Maine to Florida. We registered upwards⁷ of 30,000 young people to vote," she says.

Maya Enista has helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of young voters.

After graduating in 2004, Enista worked for the Hip-Hop Convention, a national nonprofit that uses youth culture as a springboard for social and political action. There she registered 300,000 voters in advance of the 2004 election.

And the results showed. The turnout rate among young adults jumped dramatically in the 18-to-24 year old age group.

Reaching young voters

Enista's next move was to Mobilize.org. In 2005, she was named its chief executive officer, a position she holds today at age 26. The group targets the 80 million-strong millennial generation, those born between 1976 and 1996. She says the 8-year-old nonprofit, which was founded at the University of California, Berkley, works to improve democracy by investing in millennial-driven solutions. "We've grown from ten students on a campus to tens of thousands of young people around the country who are working to build the democracy that they want to inherit."

Maya Enista giving a speech at the Lew Frey Institute in Orlando, Florida.

Enista says the backbone⁸ of Mobilize.org is a project called Democracy 2.0. "We work with young people to identify the issues they care most about, work collaboratively to propose solutions and then we provide them the resources they need to implement⁹ those solutions and then track and evaluate their progress."

An annual survey determines the millennial agenda. Mobilize.org raises money from charitable groups and turns it into grants, like the $4,000 award given to a Brown University student to design a web-based fix for voter registration on campus. "He came to one of our summits, proposed the idea, received the grant and in the three months before the 2008 election deadline, he had 220,000 requests for absentee ballots¹⁰."

Technology for the public good

Enista says her generation is comfortable with technology and its application for social good. She says Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are part of a young activist's tool kit¹¹. "We are able to find people not necessarily based on who lives in our dorm or who are neighbors are, but we are able to build sort-of affinity¹² groups with people in different states, across the world, across different interests."

Late last year, Maya Enista was named one of 50 world visionaries by the alternative magazine UTNE Reader. While humbled¹³ by the recognition, she says it signals that millennials are coming of age. The emerging social networks promoted by Moblize.org foster dialogue among people who might not always agree with one another.

That conversation, she says, is fundamental in a healthy democracy; a political system that - as the daughter of Romanian immigrants - she is determined¹⁴ to preserve.

 

1 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

2 utilizes   

v.利用，使用( utilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• One highly successful approach utilizes a triplet aspheric lens array. 一种很成功的方法是利用一个三合非球面透镜阵列。 来自辞典例句
• The first utilizes a blend of finely ground ceramic powders. 第一种用的是一种磨细的陶瓷粉末混合物。 来自辞典例句

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

7 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

8 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

12 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

13 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。