Political Science ClubStimulating

Political

Interest

When I set out to re-instate the Political Science Club at Kingsborough, I wanted to create a club where:

Students can share their views in an atmosphereof political tolerance and diversityDomestic issues can be better understoodInternational affairs can be brought to lightPolitical awareness on campus can be increasedElection 2008 can be followed closelyRelevant material, such as films and books, can be brought in to support the discussion

To accomplish these goals, I knew I would need support in both re-instating the club and finding new members.

To re-instate the club, I sought help from faculty:

Jacob Segal, who• Is a professor of Political Science• Was advisor when club was inactive• Graciously offered his knowledge and support to this

endeavor as a faculty advisorKatherine Opello, who

• Is also a Political Science professor• Offered her expertise in this field to help the club as a

co- faculty advisor

Next, I needed to find interested students.To find motivated members for the Political Science Club, I employed several strategies:

Asked my fellow club-organizing students for suggestions Set up a table, posters, and sign-up sheet in a high-traffic

hallways to attract interested students Gave out flyers promoting our club to students

in the halls and classrooms Created posters for the club and posted them around

campus to promote our meetings Asked professors to announce club meetings to their

classes

These are a couple of the flyers used to promote club meetings:

Through these methods, I was able to attract 26 students to the first meeting of the Political Science Club.

There, we elected club officers:

President………………………….Alejandro Rey Pena

Vice President……………………Michael McCullough

Treasurer………………………….Ady Matteo

Secretary………………………….Liane Naber

Master of Arms………..………….Olga Fursova

Since that first meeting a mere three months ago, we’ve covered some interesting topics within our discussion sessions:

Corruption: Can it be remedied?

Big Government: Does the government play too great of a role in our daily lives?

The Electoral College: Do we still need it?

The Constitution: Is bipartisanship warranted?

We also watched the film “Good Night and Good Luck” and had a discussion about McCartheism.

This is a photograph from our last meeting:

And this is a group photo of regular members: