Penn Gore supporters look to educate students on the issues.

Size doesn't always matter. That's what the organizers of the Penn for Gore organization found out last Thursday night when only nine students showed up for their first meeting in the McNeil Building in preparation for Campaign 2000. While the co-chairs of the organization, College junior Michael Bassik and College senior Shirley Zilberstein, both said they were expecting a bigger turnout, they were happy to have a core of committed students. The meeting brought together students with previous involvement in Gore's campaign -- several had worked with the vice president as interns in Washington, D.C. -- and others who were interested in finding out more about the Democratic candidate's issues. "I'm especially interested in learning more about the difference between Al Gore and Bill Bradley," College sophomore Tom Hickey said. Since the Pennsylvania primary is less than 50 days away -- well after a critical spate of primaries on March 7 that will likely settle the nomination battle -- the students spent time brainstorming ideas about how to help spread the word about Gore around campus. Hosting guest speakers, debate-watching events and a debate between Gore and Bradley supporters were some of the on-campus ideas suggested. As coordinator of the statewide Students for Gore campaign, Bassik also said he hoped to make Penn the hub of statewide efforts. As for developing an on-campus campaign strategy, the students discussed the importance of visibility and publicity, with suggestions ranging from poster-making parties to selling campaign buttons on Locust Walk. "I want to make sure there is an enthusiastic presence because I think, especially with the [Sam Katz mayoral] campaign, that that was what put him over the top on the Penn campus," College and Wharton sophomore Emma Walker said. Still, several students stressed that the organization would make sure Penn students were not part of the many Americans who do not vote. They also acknowledged that an even larger task was trying to get students to know what each candidate's stances are. "No one knows the issues. They all associate Gore with being stiff and Bradley with being cool because Bradley plays basketball," Bassik told the group. In particular, the organizers of Penn for Gore are concerned with helping students learn about the issues that affect them, including education, economics and civil rights. "The reason that young people aren't voting in high numbers is because ads aren't aimed at us," Zilberstein said. "We have every right not to be interested in elections. We need to weed out the student interests and have a marketing campaign based on that." One student suggested catering various issues to the groups of students who would most likely be interested in them. She cited posting economics slogans in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall as one such example.