Spring Break
ASI mixer shakes up politics
Benjamin R. Schilter
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
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Governmental Affairs director Erika Alatorre and project coordinator Patricia Mata handed out copies of the U.S. Constitution in support of Constitution Day. The date when the founding fathers signed the framework of the government.
Chris Smith, a junior business major, said he came to the meeting to talk with "like-minded people" who care about the political system and how it works. He talked with other students about their interests in politics, but found not many actually pay attention to politics.
Smith was the former president of the College Democrats organization. He believes there are two types of campaigns: one that works from the bottom up, and one that works from the top down.
"Grassroots and machine," he said. "Grassroots are open to everyone, and the machine goes from the top-down. If a grassroots campaign is powerful enough, it can become a machine, but a political machine is also very hard to beat."
Luke Polster, a junior economics and philosophy major, came to the mixer mainly for the food, but was also interested in what his fellow students had to say. Although he registered as a Republican to vote in the primaries, he fervently dislikes party politics.
"The problem is polarization," Polster said. "People who don't agree with the party line don't have representation in government, and people who vote for a third party are wasting their time."
Polster hoped to walk away from the mixer with "a full stomach and maybe some ideas I haven't heard before."
Alatorre announced she was resigning from ASI and encouraged students to take her position as Director of the Office of Governmental Affairs.
Ben Schilter can be reached at bschilter@statehornet.com
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