14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 11, 1996 0 By Jennifer Harvey and Laurie Mayk Daily Staff Reporters The hours are long, the pay often comes in experience and letters of recommendation, and doing the dirty work can mean anything from chalking pavement to spying on enemy stump speeches. They're out working for candidates and polit- ical issues, they're performing mundane tasks and they're having the time of their lives. This semester, hundreds of University stu- dents are adding hours of political work for Campaign '96 to their already hectic sched- ules. Choosing a cause By the time LSA senior Karen Sommer was choosing between the three campaigns courting her for the '96 race, she knew her candidate would have to offer more than a paycheck and a resume boost. "I'd like to say that I'll never be working for a candidate, ever, that I don't believe in," said Sommer, who is taking a semester off from the University to work as a press assistant on U.S. Sen. Carl Levin's (D-Mich.) re-election cam- paign. Sommer hasn't always followed this philoso- phy. Her first glance into the political arena was eye-opening and helped her develop guidelines for choosing campaigns and offices, she said. A high school internship sent Sommer to the office of a North Carolina Republican for an experience that "taught me a hell of a lot about myself," she said. Sommer said that although there was plenty of time for interoffice banter when she disagreed with the representative's policies, she had no opportunity to affect his opiion or legislation. "I think that's when I learned I would never do that again," Sommer said. Sommer said her realization came as she was wading through her usual office duties of sort- ing mail and doing clerical work. "When I was reading what his constituents thanked him for, a lot of his constituents thanked him for his anti-choice votes. (I realized that) indirectly, I was helping this man out," said Sommer, a pro-choice advocate. "I couldn't compromise my values for an employer." Sommer said her "first real hands-on experi- ence with politics" was a sobering experience that makes this year's campaign choice all the more significant. "I'm dedicating my life this semester to a man who most everything he votes for I'm in favor (of)," Sommer said. Some students don't devote themselves to only one candidate; they work for multiple can- didates from a single party. College Republicans President Nicholas Kirk is one such student. He It's ne works with Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), g'Ia roa who is running for a fifth term, Republican Regent e ver candidate Mike Bishop I and Republican Joe helps Fitzsimmons, who is run- ning for U.S. House against Rep. Lynn Rivers Dole/Kerr (D-Ann Arbor). "(The College Republicans) are also assisting in the Dole/Kemp campaign," Kirk said. Some students don't even narrow their inter- ests down to a single party - instead, they tackle issues through special interest groups organized nationally and locally. SNRE senior Ami Grace is just now begin- ning to see the effects of her election-year work, several months after her official duties ended. Grace worked as a summer intern for the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., researching and compiling information for candidate endorse- ments the group releases before each election. The interviews, benefit breakfasts with candi- dates and time around Capitol Hill gave her a new perspective on the connection between politics and issues such as the environment, Grace said. MARGAE, MYP- Amy Phung and Jessica Wank, members of the College Republicans, chalk GOP campaign messages outside of Angell Hall just after midnight Monday, Sept. 29. Chalking is one of several ways in which University students have participated in local and national political campaigns this fall. t'1 "You kind of see the involvement in politics as actually an issue there," Grace said. "Environmentalists are getting more and more into the political realm because they're finding it's the best way to get their political voices heard." At the University, Grace is also active in Environmental Action, which has played a part in Voice Your Vote voter registration dri- ves, environmental information dissemination and was instrumental in bringing the Sierra Club's national president to campus last night. Leave of Absence Some students just can't squeeze in enough campaign strategies and candidate policy plat- forms between classes. Especially in a presiden- tial election year, the temptation is great to forego exams and classes for a semester and experience "real politics." "My parents weren't ecstatic about it," said LSA senior Andy Schor, who is taking a semester off from University classes to work for the Fe bit state of Michigan's chapter of the Clinton/Gore Coordinated Campaign. Susan Schafer Schor said since extra 1 spokesperson credits would have allowed him to graduate a semester early if he had enrolled for fall term, he "really had nothing to lose." Sommer said she faced a similar decision this fall. "(The question was) do I find a campaign to work on or do I graduate in December and wait tables or something for a semester?" The experience of working on a large-scale political campaign outweighs the drawbacks for Schor and Sommer, but Schor said the decision to leave the Diag and Ann Arbor coffee shops behind for a semester definitely required con- sideration on all sides. "The cons were the time, and I wouldn't be able to see my friends - I was dating someone who I wasn't going to see very much," Schor said. "It's full time - and full time means 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. Just because she doesn't have midterms this semester doesn't mean Sommer has taken a vacation from gathering knowledge and infor- mation. "I'm taking a semester off from the University of Michigan. I'm not at all taking the semester off from learning," Sommer said. Political theory can't prepare you for every- thing workers encounter on the campaign trail, Schor said.. "What you learn in class and what you see on a campaign are 180-degree efforts," Schor said. "They don't tell you in class that when you go out to get out the vote you have to have food - the practicalities." Where it al happens Republicans and Democrats alike said student volunteers are critical to campaigns. "It really helps us a lot," said Lakitia Mayo, Rivers' volunteer coordinator. "They help us with everything." Mayo said that about 250 volunteers are working in the Church Street office. She said some commit 40 hours each week and others can only fit in a few hours here and there, but all are invaluable. Even as election day gets closer, Mayo said new volunteers continue to pour in. But Ann Arbor isn't the center of student activism. Plenty of students are volunteering in Lansing as well, said Susan Schafer, a spokesperson for the Michigan Dole/Kemp campaign. Schafer said hundreds of students have come into the office to help out with events, phone calls, faxing and everything else, including orga- nizing campaign tail-gate parties. "It's not very glamorous, but every little bit helps," Schafer said. "We do rely on them a lot." Schafer said everyone is impressed by the loy- alty and enthusiasm of the student volunteers. "They're really a gung-ho bunch of people," Schafer said. "The response to the campaign has been great." The location of the campaign office, about a mile from Michigan State University's campus, is a big bonus, Schafer said. "Students come in and the next time they bring a lot of friends." By Jennifer Harvey Daliy Staff Reporter hen students come to campus ready to toss their hats into the proverbial polit- ical arena, they usu- ally meet Jae Jae Spoon or Nicholas Kirk. But not both. Kirk and Spoon are the presidents of the College Republicans and College Democrats, respectively. Students meet one or the other at a mass meeting, and come to know the other as the opposition. But in the end, both are students with hectic schedules to maintain. "You have two months of intense insan- ity and you still have to keep up your GPA," Kirk said. Kirk, an LSA junior, said he spends 20- 25 hours working on campaigns each week. Communication takes up most of his time, Kirk said. He said he answers at least 50 questions and comments over e-mail and telephone every day. He meets with campaign committees and organizes other College Republicans into focus groups. Kirk and other College Republicans chalk sidewalks in the middle of the night at least once each week, weather permit- ting. With students and candidates both ask- ing for time, political leadership can be stressful, Kirk said. "I have to coordinate everybody, keep everybody focused and motivated," Kirk said. "It's very draining. "When I put forth a lot of energy, it's hard to get the batteries back up," Kirk said. "The hardest part (of volunteering) is wak- ing up every day and finding the energy to do that." He said he draws strength and motiva- tion from his family and the sacrifices they made in the past and from God. His involvement in the College Republicans isn't about his own personal interests, Kirk said. He's not doing it to become famous or get a lot of attention. "I don't have any aspirations to use this club as a vehicle to get ahead," he said. "I like it. I like the political fight." For him, Kirk said, two points make up the key issues in this year's campaign - the economy and character - things for which he is fighting. Known for firing up the crowd by talk- ing trash and ripping up- Clinton/Gore posters at College Republicans meetings, In addition to chairing her student group. Spoon works as a fund-raiser for state Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor), contributes time to the Democratic Coordinated Campaign, goes to class and attempts to work on her Honors thesis on the effect of the 1968 Paris riots. She also co-chairs Voice Your Vote, a non-partisan voter registration and voter turn-out project. Spoon said her campaign duties range from fliering to phone-banking and from gathering volunteers to hosting debate- watching parties. She sets up debate and candidate forums and organizes pizza par- ties. "It's all in time management," she said. Spoon said she devotes about 20 hours to the campaigns each week, but said there are hundreds of students who work at least two hours for candidates each week. "For most people (volunteering) is just really good way to get involved and see how things work," Spoon said. Spoon said a lot of students volunteer for multiple Democratic campaigns. "There's a lot of cross-over," she said. There are definite advantages to work- ing for lower-profile candidates, Spoon said. "The average volunteer that's doing something for (Sen.) Carl Levin (D-Mich may never see him," Spoon said. "But Li Brater's and (Democratic Ann Arbor may- oral candidate) Chris Kolb's schedules allow them to do it." Spoon said students end up doing more abstract work for candidates like Levin and President Clinton, but can do more con- crete work for local candidates like Brater, Kolb and U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor). "Volunteering is better than making a donation," Spoon said. "It's a learnin experience. You're really having art impact." But at times the work can be less than exciting, Spoon said, "Sometimes work.is tedious, sitting there for three hours stuffing envelopes and answering phones," she said. Students often walk in expecting to do really exciting things like opposition research, Spoon said. But in the end many are willing to do the repetitiv4 information-distributing tasks, she said., because they know the campaigns really need it. Getting involved with the Democratic Party is very easy for University students, Spoon said, because the campaign office is 0 Kirk, Spoon temper classes with campus campaign coordination ;: fi x., : .. ; , . r, , .. ".: . a °4.