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Toren Mushovic (left) and Jesse Melgar have helped rival political campaigns.

Like many students at UCLA, Jesse Melgar has strong political convictions. But unlike many, he volunteers for a political campaign to make those convictions heard.

Melgar, a second-year political science student, works for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides’ campaign. As part of his work, Melgar organizes bus trips to the California Democratic Party headquarters in West Los Angeles in order to push student involvement in the upcoming campaign.

As midterm elections approach and the gubernatorial race reaches a fever pitch, students like Melgar are taking a more active role in the 2006 elections by participating in their parties’ campaigns.

Melgar said he works for the Democratic Party and works specifically to support Angelides’ candidacy.

Volunteers in Angelides’ campaign do work such as voter registration campaigns and cold-calling trips. Melgar’s work often takes him to the West Los Angeles branch, where he contacts registered party members to encourage them to vote for Angelides.

Angelides has made several trips to UCLA and other California universities in the last months, and Melgar said his platform for education, which includes rolling back fees at California public colleges and universities, speaks to students.

These education proposals were an important factor in Melgar’s decision to devote time to Angelides’ campaign.

But it was also Angelides’ character that attracted Melgar to work for the candidate, as he said he found Angelides to be very personal and easily accessible, qualities which he said he respects.

“(Angelides is) a very passionate and articulate politician,” Melgar said.

After spending time in the campaign office of a gubernatorial candidate, Melgar said he got a real sense of what it meant to run for office.

Though Melgar said he has not yet decided whether he will go into politics, he does note that volunteering for the campaign has been a good way to integrate what he learns in his political science classes with first-hand experience.

“Working with people who know their way around politics ... definitely gives you an upper hand in understanding the political system,” he said. “It’s helpful to learn the material we’ve been taught in class but it’s even more helpful when you get a chance to apply it to the real world.”

And, he said, smiling, “Yeah, it does help to build connections.”

Toren Mushovic, a third-year student at the UCLA School of Law, has also become involved in a gubernatorial campaign, working in support of Angelides’ rival, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger’s environmental policies and his platform to raise the minimum wage, as well as what Mushovic describes as Schwarzenegger’s interest in working across party lines, were some of the main factors that drew him to campaign for the current governor.

Mushovic volunteers as the outreach coordinator for the Los Angeles Victory ’06 center, one of 53 centers throughout California designed to motivate people to get out the vote and promote the Republican ticket.

He said he has found student participation in the campaign encouraging but not overwhelming.

“(There are) a lot of young people getting involved, maybe not as much people as you would hope. There’s still a lot of apathy in our generation, but there was a good deal of young people every time I went into the office,” Mushovic said.

Given his interest in politics, Mushovic said he has also enjoyed the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes of an election campaign.

Though some students are campaigning for Schwarzenegger in the race against Angelides, Bruin Republicans Marketing Director Jennifer Propper said most students in her organization have been campaigning for propositions rather than for the governor because they are confident Schwarzenegger will be re-elected.

“Most of us don’t really feel it’s a contested race so we’re focusing our energy on propositions and other things we care about,” Propper said.

Second-year law student Jamison Power, also interested in politics, said he finds involvement with Angelides’ campaign interesting.

Jeff Millman, press secretary for the California Democratic Party, said student activists play an integral role in the success of political campaigns.

“The Democratic party relies on energetic and motivated college students, especially from politically active campuses like UCLA ... in order to push Democratic candidates ahead, across the finish line on election day,” Millman said.

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