Both parties' campaigns invite student workers into the fold

Oberlin students have taken their political activity off campus and into the nation. Students have been working for both parties. College senior Arion Petasis and sophomore Jenny Kaleczyk, both politics majors, worked for political campaigns over the summer, and are continuing this year.

Petasis, a Republican, worked in Columbus this summer for the Bob Dole campaign as an assistant to the Executive Director. He said he did `advance work,' making sure that things went smoothly at the actual convention. Petasis also worked with a team of people to `get out the vote, visiting football games and other local events to inform people about the election.

Petasis was not surprised by the long hours of the office. He often worked from 8:30 a.m. to after eleven at night. Petasis had an internship in the House of Representatives his first-year as an intern for Rep. Mike DeWine (D-Ohio), despite his personal political leanings. Work in the campaign office was educational for Petasis. "The groundwork is quite tedious, but it's really quite fun," Petasis said.

The atmosphere stayed buoyant despite the way Dole's campaign was going. Petasis said, "Even though the people in the office knew we're probably going to lose this one, they try their best."

Petasis got to travel to the Republican National Convention in San Diego, which was "not too much work," he said.

When he came back to the office during fall break, the atmosphere still wasn't too positive. "Things weren't looking good at any time but it's not a huge disappointment because it never looked like we were going to win," he said. He did the same work that he had over the summer, but didn't get to travel. Over the course of the summer and fall he did get to meet Dole six times. "He's cool, he's funny," Petasis said. "He's a nice guy."

Kaleczyk, on the other hand, stayed in Oberlin over fall break doing `lit drops' for Jarvis Babcock in Norwalk. She also worked with the Lorain County campaign project, and went to see the president in Parma.

Now Kaleczyk's back in Helena, Mont., with the campaign she worked for over the summer. She's collecting data for a paper she's writing on media and targeting, and so she's talking to the other staff and collecting ads and videos.

Over the summer Kaleczyk did lit drops and made phone calls for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont) as a field organizer. She said there were many other young students and recent college graduates, so everyone worked together and treated each other well.

She didn't feel fully prepared for the work, but said "a lot of it is learning as you go. People are very willing to teach you and help you out."

Kalecyzk went to the Democratic National convention as the second youngest delegate there. In 1992 Kalecyzk went to the Democratic convention as a page, so the experience wasn't new. "I got to see amazing speakers every day. You walk in the hallways and bump into all these famous people, and go to parties at night. You're exposed to so much in those few days," Kalecyzk said.