Joshua W_ Suddath (joswsudd@mars.utm.edu) from 66.168.147.226 at 10/28/04 08:15PM
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    For my cultural events assignment I chose to attend a meeting of the UT Martin College Democrats. With election day drawing near, I figured this would be an appropriate chioce, especially since I come from a family full of Republicans, and I have the right-wing message pounded into my head on a daily basis. To my disappointment, the issues were not really discussed, with the exception of the standard anti-Bush retoric. Instead, the focus was on the assignment of flier and sticker distribution duties. Also brought up was the question of just who would be responsible for carrying out operation "Dorm Storm", which as far as I could tell was the task of accosting people as they attempt to leave their dorm rooms. I was the only guest at this function, and I found all of the people there very friendly and welcoming. While I most certainly do not envision myself participating in partisan politics, I did find it interesting to see democracy at work. Further, I found it refresing to see young people who possess the desire to participate in it's processes at the most basic,and thus most idealistic level.