College Democrats fight apathy

The mood was one of enthusiasm and confidence at Wednesday night's call-out meeting of the IU College Democrats. The meeting had elements of a true campaign rally: guest speakers waving their candidates banners, a campaign volunteer drive and spirited talk about the Democrats' worst enemy.\nNo, they weren't referring to Republicans. \nThe major enemy this campaign year, as in any campaign year, is apathy, said state representative Mark Kruzan (D-Bloomington). One of the main themes of the meeting was encouraging the group to get out and register as many students as possible for the Nov. 7 election. \n"You all literally could influence the makeup of the United States Congress," Kruzan told the crowd of 55 students in Woodburn Hall. Kruzan noted that apathy among traditionally Democratic voters, including college students, led in some extent to the Democrats' loss of control of the House of Representatives in 1994.\n"We all have fought hard over the years for a lot of rights … those rights don't mean anything if we don't exercise them," Kruzan said.\nIt was a message that had junior Matthew Spivack nodding in agreement. This is Spivack's first semester in College Democrats. After working in Washington for the summer, Spivack said he was inspired to become more politically active in Bloomington. Spivack now helps out with Dr. Paul Perry's campaign against Republican congressman John Hostettler, making signs and calling local residents to make sure they'll vote in November.\n"If we want to say something in this election, we can," Spivack said.\nSpivack said Democrats address the concerns of young people and the community as a whole better than Republicans.\nIU College Democrats president and junior Cassidy Cloyd said students need to realize that state and local elections can impact students in a big way, especially with regard to education grants.\n"There have been people in Bloomington elected by four or eight votes," said Cloyd. "Everything below the national level people need to know about and vote on, too."\nCloyd said College Democrats will staff a local headquarters this fall, and will go door-to-door and participate in area parades. She added that IU College Democrats is working with the local Democratic party to get a major political figure or celebrity to come to campus.\nOne of the meeting's featured speakers, assistant to Gov. Frank O'Bannon's campaign John Zody, an IU alumnus, said his experiences with the diverse backgrounds and attitudes of IU students and permanent Bloomington residents helped develop his interest in politics.\n"Everything I know about politics comes from this city," Zody said. "So many people come (here) from all over the world for education, music and the arts, (and) it gets them interested. … I love being around people who want to be involved."\n Cloyd said she would like people to support the party for which she works, but to her that's not as important as the fight against that enemy of enemies ' apathy.\n "No matter whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, go out and register to vote ' maybe you think you don't make a difference in national elections, but you definitely have the power to affect the ones below," she said.