Students Sacrifice For '92 Campaign

SALEM, N.H.--Angel Taveras '92 knows about sacrifice. To go door-to-door for Sen. Tom Harkin (D--Iowa) in the frigid streets of this Granite State community last weekend, the Leverett House resident had to sacrifice his Saturday, his warmth and possibly his limbs.

"The guy wouldn't open the door and I could hear the dog barking," Taveras said, describing the first house on his assigned route. "I thought we might see the headline, `Harkin Supporter Gets Killed by Dog."

Like Taveras, many college students have flocked to New Hampshire cities large and small during the past month, hoping to make a difference in next Tuesday's presidential primaries.

And whether they come for the duration of the campaign or for so-called "invasion weekends," these students share the same "sacrificial" experiences: 16-hour days, scut work, cramped living conditions, fast food diets, lukewarm parental support and, sometimes, politically close-minded canines.

Richard L. Strauss, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, arrived in Manchester three weeks ago to work full-time at Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's Manchester headquarters. He was told he'd be working up to 14 hours a day.

In fact, the political science major said, "I've been working 16 hours a day."

His duties in the office's press division include monitoring news-casts, working with radio stations and faxing newspaper clippings to Clinton's Arkansas headquarters.

Taveras' visit, in contrast, was a one-day affair in which student volunteers were given "walk decks" containing the names and addresses of all registered Democratic and independent voters in a given neighborhood. Their job was to find out who each voter favored and to answer any questions about Harkin.

And outside New Hampshire, some students' work is a little more glamorous. Ethan J. Zindler '93, a governmentconcentrator, has taken this entire academic yearoff to work as the assistant press secretary inClinton's Little Rock, Arkansas headquarters.

Zindler, who was a visiting student at Harvardfrom the University of Wisconsin, said last weekthat he performs many press-related functions,including lining up reporters to travel withClinton. Still, there are some tasks Zindler doesnot handle.

"I do not talk on record to major reportersbecause if I fuck up, we could lose the campaign,"Zindler said in a phone interview from littleRock. "There are only four people in the entirecampaign who talk on the record."

Advisor

James M. Harmon '93-'94, president of CollegeDemocrats of America, is also taking time off totravel the campaign trail, but is unaffiliatedwith any particular candidate.

Instead, Harmon advises various Democraticcampaigns, "trying to get more young peopleinvolved," he said.

Harmon, who plans to return to Harvard nextspring, said getting students involved is oftendifficult.

"It's undeniably a little confusing," Harmonsaid. "There is a group of people that arepartisan but not committed to one candidate."

And while all the students appear to enjoy whatthey are doing, many said they miss the life in acollege dorm, which is luxurious by comparison.

Kara Callahan, 19, a sophomore politicalscience major at the University of Delaware, isspending this semester working on the Tsongascampaign.

Living for Politics

She says she will return to school in the fall.But in the meantime she is living in the Tsongascampaign apartment, a two-bedroom, two-bathroomflat within walking distance of the candidate'sManchester headquarters.

"There's usually five people staying there, butsometimes we have a lot of volunteers...maybe like12," Callahan said.

Though she said the accommodations "can bepretty rough," she added that most of her time isspent in the officer, not the apartment.

"I get [to the office] by about 7:30 or aquarter to eight, and I'm out by two [a.m.],"Callahan said.

'Clinton Hotel'

Not far from the Tsongas apartment stands the"Clinton Hotel," actually a converted collegedormitory with eight rooms. Strauss and severalother volunteers from offices around New Hampshirelive there, and the hotel's population fluctuatesas each weekend group enters and exits.

The housing situation is not the onlydifficulty faced by these students. Many arepaying their own way, and the amount of expensemoney that a few receive is very small.

"It's tough. It's really tough," said Strauss,who receives nothing for his volunteer work. "Wehave free pizza for dinner. [We] just try to eatas cheap as possible."

Callahan said that the Tsongas campaign alsosprings for occasional pizza, supplementing the$50 she said she receives weekly.

Though none of the student workers will becomewealthy from agree their efforts pay off in otherways.

'Intense'

"It's great. It's exciting. It's very intense,"Callahan said, adding that her several meetingswith Tsongas have made it all worthwhile.

"My main reason for coming up here is [the factthat] I love Paul Tsongas," Callahan said. "He'san incredible man."

And Strauss points out the potential for afuture in the Clinton campaign or, if all goeswell, the Clinton administration.

"There's always a possibility of being involvedon a national level," Strauss said

Zindler, who was a visiting student at Harvardfrom the University of Wisconsin, said last weekthat he performs many press-related functions,including lining up reporters to travel withClinton. Still, there are some tasks Zindler doesnot handle.

"I do not talk on record to major reportersbecause if I fuck up, we could lose the campaign,"Zindler said in a phone interview from littleRock. "There are only four people in the entirecampaign who talk on the record."

Advisor

James M. Harmon '93-'94, president of CollegeDemocrats of America, is also taking time off totravel the campaign trail, but is unaffiliatedwith any particular candidate.

Instead, Harmon advises various Democraticcampaigns, "trying to get more young peopleinvolved," he said.

Harmon, who plans to return to Harvard nextspring, said getting students involved is oftendifficult.

"It's undeniably a little confusing," Harmonsaid. "There is a group of people that arepartisan but not committed to one candidate."

And while all the students appear to enjoy whatthey are doing, many said they miss the life in acollege dorm, which is luxurious by comparison.

Kara Callahan, 19, a sophomore politicalscience major at the University of Delaware, isspending this semester working on the Tsongascampaign.

Living for Politics

She says she will return to school in the fall.But in the meantime she is living in the Tsongascampaign apartment, a two-bedroom, two-bathroomflat within walking distance of the candidate'sManchester headquarters.

"There's usually five people staying there, butsometimes we have a lot of volunteers...maybe like12," Callahan said.

Though she said the accommodations "can bepretty rough," she added that most of her time isspent in the officer, not the apartment.

"I get [to the office] by about 7:30 or aquarter to eight, and I'm out by two [a.m.],"Callahan said.

'Clinton Hotel'

Not far from the Tsongas apartment stands the"Clinton Hotel," actually a converted collegedormitory with eight rooms. Strauss and severalother volunteers from offices around New Hampshirelive there, and the hotel's population fluctuatesas each weekend group enters and exits.

The housing situation is not the onlydifficulty faced by these students. Many arepaying their own way, and the amount of expensemoney that a few receive is very small.

"It's tough. It's really tough," said Strauss,who receives nothing for his volunteer work. "Wehave free pizza for dinner. [We] just try to eatas cheap as possible."

Callahan said that the Tsongas campaign alsosprings for occasional pizza, supplementing the$50 she said she receives weekly.

Though none of the student workers will becomewealthy from agree their efforts pay off in otherways.

'Intense'

"It's great. It's exciting. It's very intense,"Callahan said, adding that her several meetingswith Tsongas have made it all worthwhile.

"My main reason for coming up here is [the factthat] I love Paul Tsongas," Callahan said. "He'san incredible man."

And Strauss points out the potential for afuture in the Clinton campaign or, if all goeswell, the Clinton administration.

"There's always a possibility of being involvedon a national level," Strauss said