Republican students worked with others to organize on-campus debates and voter registration.
Carissa Marsh
Staff Writer
Since the beginning of this semester, the College Republicans have been gearing up for their campus campaign, forging their final attempts to get George W. Bush re-elected as president. The group has been involved in various aspects of the political and activist scene. The club’s focus during the presidential campaign has been informing students about the issues and the candidates, in addition to encouraging students to go out and vote.
The purpose of the College Republicans is to demonstrate the importance of politics in society while emphasizing the need for conservative values. Dr. John Jones, professor of Communication and advisor to the College Republicans, said the club works to get more voters registered, to promote conservative ideas, to encourage Republicans and to reach out to dependent and undecided voters.
The members of the College Republicans are concerned about voting, even more than they are about the candidates. Getting students to vote is their No. 1 priority, because most people decide party affiliation when they are between the ages of 18 and 24.
To facilitate Pepperdine students in the voting process, the College Republicans set up voter registration tables on campus. Members emphasized the importance of voting while providing students with registration forms and voting information. They also registered students with disregard to party affiliation. Of course the College Republicans said they would like everyone to vote for Bush, but their main goal is just to get students to vote.
The College Republicans want students to understand that their voices count and that the best way to make their voices heard is by voting. Katie Vaughan, president of the College Republicans, is passionate about the issue.
“The issue of voting is close to my heart,” Vaughan said. “People died for our right to vote.”
The College Republicans is one of the largest groups on campus, boasting more than 300 members, and is involved in political activities both at Pepperdine and in the surrounding community. Besides helping students register to vote, the College Republicans also sponsored, in part, the presidential debate viewings.
As a follow up to the presidential debates, the Student Debate Team in association with the College Republicans, Young Democrats and SGA, held a student-led debate in which representatives from both the Bush and Kerry campaigns debated the issues and the candidates.
The club also hosts guest speakers. On Wednesday, Oct. 13, the College Republicans hosted a question and answer session with Kenneth Starr, dean and professor of law at the Pepperdine School of Law. The focus of Starr’s discussion was the election and the qualities that make Bush the best choice for president. He encouraged Republicans to always be ready to give an answer as to why they believe what they believe and why they are part of the party of Abraham Lincoln.
The College Republicans also participate in political events off campus. Throughout the presidential campaign, members of the College Republicans have been working with other Republican groups in the community, including the Malibu Republican Women’s Club as well as the Malibu Republicans Club. The College Republicans have helped the Malibu Republicans Club by volunteering at the group’s headquarters. Club members said they want to reach outside of the Pepperdine community and become more involved with the College Republicans on the regional, state, and even national levels.
The club also works on other, more local campaigns, such as the ones for Bill Jones (who is running for U.S. Senate) and Heather Peters (who is running for State Assembly).
“The Republican Party doesn’t want Bush to have a lonely victory,” Vaughan said.
The group is planning a party in the HAWC to celebrate Bush’s victory if he wins the election. The party will be held on election night and will begin at 9 p.m. Jones said he expects the party to last well into the night as they wait for the final, anxiously awaited, results. Vaughan said she urges people to join the festivities as it promises to be a fun night.
Democrats helped organize debate watching parties and are bringing speakers to discuss issues.
Jennifer Boscarino
Staff Writer
Election Day, Nov. 2, is almost here. With only five days to go, the Young Democrats are doing all they can to not only back their candidate, John Kerry, but also to encourage more students to vote, no matter whom they support.
As a campus-wide student organization, Young Democrats club meets every other Thursday at 6 p.m., and consists of about 150 students. The group has been involved in many activities this semester supporting Democratic candidates and helping Pepperdine students become more informed about the presidential election and voting.
Besides giving students ways to voice their opinions at Pepperdine, the club is going the extra mile for this year’s election.
“The first thing we did was ask all of our members to vote,” said junior Katie Clayton, president of the Young Democrats. She also emphasized how important absentee votes are. “(In most cases) votes are more important in your own state.” The club also encouraged SGA to provide the “Rock the Vote” Web link that is located on the Pepperdine Xpress Web site.
Junior Joshua Banister, the Young Democrats Inter-Club Council representative, stressed how important it is for college students to vote.
“It’s not just one vote by itself, every age group is needed, but our age (group) can make a huge difference,” Banister said.
Sophomore Deborah Whang, the secretary of Young Democrats, agreed.
“We had to fight for our right to vote at age 18, so we should take advantage of that,” Whang said.
Highlighting the importance of voting isn’t the only way the Young Democrats have made the election a high priority on campus. They also reserved the Sandbar to watch the three Presidential debates and hold discussions. The club also participated in the on-campus student debate with the College Republicans and debate team, and held an information night during which they passed out surveys in order to find out what issues are most important to Pepperdine students.
Clayton said the club hopes to compare these issues with Kerry’s platform in order to help students make voting decisions.
“By having students take a survey, we can find out the issues that really matter to them,” Clayton said.
The club has also been volunteering off-campus for other local Democratic campaigns. Some club members have been working the phone bank and helping with mailers for California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is running for re-election. Others helped campaign for California State Sen. Betty Karnette in Long Beach.
“We really want to help (Karnette) out because being a former teacher, she really values education,” Whang said.
Senior Dylan Lushing, a member of the Young Democrats, showed his support by interning at the California Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, helping with registration and the phone bank.
In the final push of the election, Young Democrats have one last event in the works.
“Right now we are planning a special coffeehouse event on October 30, with guest speakers talking about the importance of voting,” Clayton said.
Speakers include Rob Raider, an adjunct professor at Pepperdine’s School of Law, who is also running for Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, and Chelsea Kasai, the executive director of the California Young Democrats and former president of Pepperdine’s Young Democrats. The club also hopes to get more young people to speak about their thoughts and opinions on the election. With only days before the election, the club hopes this event will provide a last chance for students to get excited about voting.
The event on Saturday will be between 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the Sandbar and is open to all students. Although the last day to register to vote has already passed, the Young Democrats want to remind students to send in their absentee ballots or go to the polls on Election Day.
“We don’t care who or what you’re voting for,” Clayton said. “Just vote!”
The polling place for members of the Pepperdine residential community is the Malibu Bluffs Park Meeting Room, adjacent to the baseball fields at the Bluffs.
10-28-2004
