There will be no political debates or smear campaigns going on, but tonight college students will get to rock the vote on mtvU's 2006 Woodie Awards.

The award show, which is voted on only by college students, will feature live performances by Beck and TV on the Radio as well as Woodie nominees Gym Class Heroes, who will be performing at the Bryce Jordan Center tonight, and Imogen Heap. This year's heavy hitters at the awards will be Woodie of the Year nominees Angels and Airwaves, Gym Class Heroes, Atmosphere, Panic! At the Disco and The Academy Is.

Leading the way with three nominations apiece are UK hype-masters Arctic Monkeys and British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap. Each has three nominations and will face off in the Breaking Woodie category for the best emerging artist.

Ross Martin, head of programming at mtvU, said the show tries to involve college students in every step of the way.

"The Woodies is all about an amazing night of pure music," Martin said. "Every aspect of the show is powered by college students--behind the camera, scoring the music, deciding who wins.

Handing out the awards is what we do between the killer performances. It's all about paying homage to the music you guys loved most this year."

Forrest Kline, leader of the band hellogoodbye, said he was grateful to be nominated for the Road Woodie, which goes toward the band with the year's best live show.

"It means a lot to me because people in college can drive and stay out as late as they want, so to be accepted into their fold is exciting," Kline said. "It's like I'm in a frat."

Will Pugh, whose band Cartel is also nominated for the Road Woodie, credited mtvU for promoting independent music to a wider audience.

"Unless certain outlets exist it's impossible to use them to promote your band," Pugh said. "We've been lucky that a channel like mtvU exists to promote our record. Otherwise we'd be using sites like MySpace or Purevolume to get the word out. Luckily enough mtvU exists to tap into the college students."

Kim Stolz, a VJ on mtvU, said the awards -- and the network in general -- make an effort to keep a finger on the pulse of what college students are listening to.

"When I was at Wesleyan, I was listening to a lot of these bands, but before mtvU came to my school, there was no media venue by which I could listen to them and learn more about them," Stolz said. "mtvU definitely does that."

She offered one of last year's winners, Death Cab for Cutie, as an example of a band that was very popular among the college crowd.

"I don't know one college kid that wasn't listening to them at that time," Stolz said. "It was awesome to see them recognized."

That ability to recognize the bands that college students nationwide want to hear has justified Martin's mission for the network.

Martin said the inspiration for mtvU has always been "college students and new music, plain and simple."

"This channel is run by students, for students, and it's all about the best emerging artists simmering on campuses nationwide," he said.