The College Democrats kicked off the school year with their first meeting Aug. 27, which included representatives from John Edwards’ campaign and the Wake County Board of Elections.
Speakers at the meeting included Paul Anderson, a candidate for Raleigh City Council At Large.
Anderson encouraged the students in the room to be involved in politics and the election process.
“What we do here in Raleigh has impacts all over the world,” he said.
Pauly Rodney, a representative for John Edwards’ campaign, stressed the need for young people to be involved as well.
According the Rodney, he is in need of volunteers to “do real work” and “get real experience.”
Representatives from the Wake County Board of Elections were at the meeting to encourage young individuals to become involved in the election process.
“It is a constant test for us to find people who are willing and interested to work the polls, but also who are competent to work the polls,” a representative said.
To be eligible to work the polls in Wake County, a person must be registered to vote in the county, attend training classes and be willing to work from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the day of the election, according to the representative. However, there is compensation of about $150 for working the polls on Election Day.
“Working the polls does not stop you from being political,” said the election board representative. “However, Election Day is the one day you have to wear the white shirt, no donkey T-shirts, and not be political in any way.”
“I don’t think I came in here with expectations,” Nina Rufty, a sophomore in First Year College, said. “I came because I’m from Raleigh and I wanted to get involved in our elections here and find out what I can do to get more involved in the political world.”
Rufty said she was attracted to the meeting when she got a flyer for College Democrats in the Brickyard. She also said she did not know about College Democrats in her freshman year and she would like to see College Democrats “put themselves out there.”
“We could definitely make a bigger difference if we could get the word out that we are here,” Rufty said. “We can make a big difference in the country and the community we are living in.”
Sarah Roach, a sophomore and double major in Business and German, said she is neither a republican nor a democrat and that she came to the meeting to “learn a little bit more about both parties.”
“I thought they all did a great job speaking and they all had a lot to say about the politicians,” she said. “It was interesting to hear about each one.”
Barbara Maha, a senior with a double major in political science and economics, said that she would be interested to see the city of Raleigh develop a better public transportation system.
“I’m very interested in environmental politics so I’d like to see tighter green house gas emissions for Raleigh and a public transportation system movement,” she said. “I’d like to see a small tram or bus system from RDU to Chapel Hill. Something a lot of people can use in mass.”
Maha said she is also interested to see Raleigh look into alternate transportation as well, such as a non-motor vehicle lane alongside highways.
Tara Ilsley, a political science major and junior, is the president of College Democrats.
Ilsley said that the NCSU College Democrats are important on campus so that both parties, democrats and republicans, are represented.
“NCSU is known for being extensively republican and we as a group of committed students have the ability to change the election and to get kids motivated on our campus,” she said.
Ilsley referred to College Democrats as an outlet for students interested in politics.
“Not only is it great to work on campus issues and feel like you are doing something in your community, you can meet like-minded people,” she said.
Ilsley said she thinks the closer the election gets, the more the Democratic Party will grow.
“We realize in the past seven years how the Bush administration has negatively impacted not only our country, but thousands of people around the world,” she said.
