Student politicians ass£~t til registeling ,",otelc~/iJ//i:til elections POLITICAL GROUPS WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE STUDENT AWARENESS Harding students were given many chances to get invo lved in the political process.Among these opportunities were organizations that included Barristers, the prelaw organization; Young Democrats and Coll ege Republi cans. Barristers was an organization that ex isted to prepare students who planned to attend lawschool. At their meetings they .took practice LSATs [the pre- law examination] and ta lked about what to expect in law school. Occasionally, they visited law schools within the region. Dr. Andy Olree, one of the Barristers ' sponsors, sa id , "A member of Barristers can be in any major; they just have to be interested in going to law school. The organization is as active as the students want it to be. It is heavily dependent on student involvement." Senior Bryan Powell said, "Barr isters is kind of informal. We take a few trips a year and we study for the LSAT. It is a good thing to be involved in. It makes us more aware of what law school is going to be like." "Her champions have met those of every college in the state and many others outside, and always the number of victories have been far in excess of defeats. To paraphrase Chaucer, 'The purches is wei bettre than the rente.' For these champions of the forum no question has been too difficult, no syllogism too knotty, no fallacy too subtle. In informal discussions what independence of thought! What power of speech! When some masterbowman clove the mark, and we hung to hear 'The rapt oration flowing free From point 10 point, with power and grace And music in the bounds of law, To whose conclusions when we saw The God wi thin him light his face." - 1930 Petit Jean, of Debate Senior Matthew Miller said, "It gives us the opportunity to become aware ofall that is involved in going to law school. It lets you talk about law school with other people interested in the same things you are. It gives you an educated opinion." Miller was also the president of Young Democrats. "It prepares us to be involved in the politi..,al process and it gets us involved now, " Mi ll er said. "We do a lot of things for local candidates. We did some work for J.R. Thomas, Vic Snyder and Blanche Lincoln, as well as President Clinton." "It a ll ows s tudents to exper ience first-hand the political process," Dr. Dan Tullos, the sponsor ofYoung Democrats, said, Sophomore Dennis Gaskins, the Young Democrats treasurer, said, "I really love being involved in the political aspect of Harding and I am really glad that Young Democrats and College Republicans have worked toge ther for some things this year." During the fall semester, previous to election day, College Republicans andYoungDemocrats wo rked together on a political awareness day - where loca l candidates sent pamphlets and information for students - and a voter registration. "Both of these things helped the parties to see the other side. It also allowed students to see how political parties are not always pitted against one another," Miller said. Junior J. A. Wiser, president of Co ll ege Republicans, said, "I am really happy about how the two parties came together to accomplish something. It can only help Harding and its students. Coll ege Republicans helps to get students involved. It opens them up to new things and new ideas." Junior Darla Dilks sa id, "I really like being involved in College Republicans . It makes me realize that, even though I am young, my vote does count and I can make a difference. " This was the first year that the two parties did anything together; they expressed hope for continued assoc iation. - Meredith Hlasta Bryan Runions and Ryan Halford meet with other Barristers members to discuss their upcoming trip to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Barristers took a trip each semester to see first·hand what law school would be like and to help them decide which school they wanted to attend. PO LITICS AND FORENSICS 2SS •
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