Some universities nationwide are doing their share to encourage active voter participation among college students in an effort to avoid breaking a federal law.

A 1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act requires Penn State and other schools to make a "good faith effort" to provide students with voter registration materials.

David King, director of research at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, said based on his research, he has found that most schools are not complying with the law.

"An overwhelming majority of the universities and colleges in this country appear not to be in strict compliance, and students should use this study to confront their schools if their school is one of those lacking voter registration initiatives," he said.

King said universities play a crucial role in helping students adjust and understand the country's political process.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said students could see the university's efforts to make college students more informed voters, with various political speakers and registration drives.

"There is a lot of visibility and publicity going on for the upcoming election, it would be hard to be a student at Penn State and not know the election is coming up," Mahon said.

P.S. U Vote academic adviser Laura Brown said P.S. U Vote is a student group that has taken on the voter registration initiative on behalf of the university administration and is conducting a large-scale student registration drive during the month of September to stay in compliance with the federal law.

"We are all aware of the law, but that is not why we are doing this," she said. "We are doing this because it is the right thing to do. Although our efforts have kept us in compliance, our primary mission is to nurture good citizenship."

P.S. U Vote student leader Benjamin Holsinger (senior-communication art and sciences) said he thinks the university administration has not committed to a "good faith" effort to voting registration initiatives.

"We are doing the work that the university should be doing," he said.

Holsinger said the Office of Student Affairs has been supportive of the group's initiative, but that the group has not received the same support from Penn State president Graham Spanier.

"Students and student groups, not the administration, are making sure other students know about the election," Holsinger said. "We are making progress without them, but it would help to have their help."

King said a majority of schools comply by making forms and information available but don't make a strong university-wide commitment to voting.

King said based on what he has heard about Penn State's voting initiatives, the university is going above and beyond what needs to be done in order to be within the confines of the law.

King said if universities continue to ignore this provision, they could eventually lose all federal funding.

"I don't think it would get this far, but this is a threatening tool students can use to get their schools to help with voting initiatives," he said.

Eric Rollins (senior-hotel restaurant and institutional management) said he thinks the university is doing a good job in ensuring students are prepared for the election through its various programs.