Bring it on

In the days leading up to the Nov. 5 election, Mike Wallin, a political coordinator for the UW College Republicans (UWCR), was busy ringing doorbells and handing out fliers.

After the election, disassembled campaign signs resembling crosses littered the UWCR office, and almost signified the demise of the Democratic Party as control of congress shifted to the Republicans.

He, along with other members of the UWCR, were trying to inform the public about the Republican candidates running for the state Legislature, such as Elizabeth Bookspan, Mike Kayser and Rep. Toby Nixon, District 45.

Its efforts on campus show how the UWCR stands for many of the traditional values of the Republican Party, including conservatism and the right to bear arms; however, the club considers itself a diverse group of students with different ideas about what it means to be a Republican.

At traditionally liberal college campuses such as the UW, members of organizations like the Republican Party are often stereotyped. For some, images of gun-toting, cigar-smoking, gray-haired old men might come to mind. But members of the UWCR neither have gray hair nor smoke cigars; for that matter, most are still in their 20s.

"The UWCR is not a homogeneous club. We are a really diverse group. It's not all white poly-science majors," said John Marini, the UWCR senator in the ASUW.

"The club encompasses all views from moderate to extreme conservative. There are definitely different perspectives of conservatism in the Republican Party. Republican values transcend all groups. Our members are varied," he said.

The UWCR's main objectives are the dissemination of information and free speech. And it openly welcomes the voice and opinions of other groups.

"We have Democrats come to meetings who want to better understand conservative ideas," Marini said.

A recent visit at a weekly UWCR meeting by local Log Cabin Republicans, a group of homosexual conservatives, offered Skylee Robinson, UWCR public relations vice-chair, the opportunity to branch out and learn about the viewpoint of other groups.

"I'm not the most politically inclined person. It's good to get informed and be educated. And it's not just about the issues," she said.

The UWCR expressed its unilateral support for the federal policy regarding Iraq, including possible military action. Last week, the UWCR welcomed Bay Buchanan, the sister of Pat Buchanan, journalist and former Republican adviser, to speak at its weekly meeting against going to war on Iraq.

"Bay Buchanan does not support war with Iraq. We paid to hear the views of someone who doesn't agree with us," Marini said. "We truly believe the purpose (of the UWCR) is outreach and awareness."

That's why the information tables seen on the HUB lawn and in the Quad once or twice a week are so important to the organization.

"That's where we increase our membership and e-mail list, and get info out about campus and state policy," Marini said.

UWCR members don't limit their information. They reach out to all people interested in campus government, even those that may not support conservative ideas, or those who don't know how to get involved.

"We are glad to help out. We want to get people involved in campus government," said Marini.

The UWCR takes great strides to create diversity and foster differing viewpoints, but sometimes get caught in the contradiction between the stereotypes they are trying to avoid and the traditions they seek to uphold.

These traditions include getting together on the HUB lawn to smoke cigars at its annual "smoke-out," and celebrating the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) at an area firing range every spring.

The UW chapter chooses to have these celebrations to increase awareness and visibility of the club on campus.

But they are not nationally sanctioned events; the UWCR justifies the events because it is the club's right to have them

"We will adopt a stereotype to break it down," Marini said. "I don't smoke; I'm against smoking. But I can get behind this because it's a social event one day a year. I won't smoke, but I will be there talking to people and getting the word out (about conservative politics)."

Marini is not a gun user for 364 days of every year, however, one day a year he and his fellow UWCR members convene at a local shooting range in a show of solidarity for the Constitution.

"We uphold the Constitution as the highest law of the land," he said. That one day a year is Second Amendment Day, or "the shoot-out," as the club likes to call it, adopting the old stereotype that associates the Republican Party with groups like the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The UWCR chooses to only celebrate the Second Amendment and not one of the other amendments because, Marini said, "Everyday is free-speech day for us. We stand for the Bill of Rights everyday."

Meetings, debates, letters to The Daily, press releases on radio stations such as KVI-AM and hosting speakers of differing viewpoints are all ways that the UWCR celebrates the amendments. Marini and the UWCR said they will continue to take their stereotype head on and are not afraid if people get offended along the way.

"It may be offensive (the smokeout and Second Amendment Day), but we are not guaranteed the right to not be offended. That's not what America is all about," he said.

We are, however, guaranteed the right to smoke cigars and bear arms, two rights the UWCR has no problem publicly upholding.