Most professors who attended college in the 60s and 70s will tell you that campus activism today pales in comparison to their draft card-burning, Woodstock-attending days, and it seems that today’s students agree. A recent Mother Jones survey of student activism found that 86 percent of students believe they are less active than students in the 1960s, while 84 percent of nonstudents think so.

The unscientific survey notes a few other interesting points: 49 percent of students believe Facebook is the future of activism; 57 percent believe being a vegetarian is a form of activism; and today’s undergraduate students place significantly more emphasis on the broad issue of human rights than nonstudents (40 percent to 27 percent), but are less concerned about the war in Iraq, poverty, and climate change.

With two months on campus prior to election day, Barack Obama’s army of youth support and John McCain’s College Republicans could play a major role in rounding up the elusive “youth vote.” It remains to be seen, however, if election-year interest will translate into increased activism after November 4.