OU students volunteered themselves to be auctioned at the College Republicans Date Auction to raise money for the student organization.

Participants traded in their U.S. currency for “stimulus dollars” to purchase dates with OU students.

“[Stimulus Dollars] are like tokens at the arcade except you can change them back in for real money at the end of the night,” said James Braid, College Republicans member and University College freshman.

Following the auction, winning bidders had their date at an ice cream social in the Regents Room of the Union.

In addition to the auction, a table was set up to register voters, sign people up for College Republicans, give out stickers and sell College Republicans T-shirts.

Shirts were sold for $10 apiece or $20 for two shirts and free membership into College Republicans.

The dates were not all Republicans. Bethany Gerber, industrial engineering junior, is not politically active and doesn’t associate herself with either party but she donated herself to the auction because she’s friends with College Republicans members.

The money raised will help the organization hold events on campus as well as helping pay for some members to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

“We’ll learn new and different methods on conservative political action [at the conference],” said Daniel Swanson, chairman of the College Republicans.

The money also will go toward “Global Cooling Day” when College Republicans will hand out free sno-cones from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 13 on the South Oval, Swanson said.

Swanson called the “Global Cooling Day” a “tongue in cheek event” with no real political message.

Trey Wylie is a history sophomore, and a Republican. He said that because of the event, he would like to join the College Republicans.

“I think it’s pretty cool that they do fund-raisers like this,” Wylie said.

The next College Republicans meeting will be at 6 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Frontier Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

For more information on College Republicans contact Swanson at OklahomaCR@gmail.com.

YOUNG DEMS

Mayor Cindy Rosenthal encouraged the OU Young Democrats club to become politically active in Norman Wednesday night.

Approximately 20 students attended the meeting in the Sooner Room of the Union where Rosenthal fielded questions about Norman. She said Norman is doing very well through the economic crisis.

Rosenthal attributed the city’s success to a good management team, lean staff and a watchful city council.

“We are a very well-managed city. We are not in any funding crisis ... We’re in good shape coming into this period,” Rosenthal said.

Local politics often get overlooked in lieu of national politics, but they are actually very important to our lives, said Grant McLoughlin, OU Young Democrats president.

“National politics may grab the headlines but it’s really on the local level where a lot of things get done,” McLoughlin said. “The most important part of politics is what effects us on a daily basis.”

Rosenthal was optimistic about her chances in the upcoming March 2 election but encouraged Democrats to not give in to apathy.

“If you get out and walk for us you’re walking for a winner. Our biggest enemy is complacency,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal said she is doing what she can to learn about student concerns.

“I teach on campus and I have a lot of involvement with students,” Rosenthal said. “Sometimes students don’t always feel like they’re welcomed into the community in the way we want them to.”

To find out about student concerns, Rosenthal said an inclusive community meeting was held on campus last February.

City Council members James Griffith, Ward 6, and Carol Dillingham, Ward 4, also spoke at the Young Democrats meeting. Dillingham said she attended the inclusive community meeting on campus and learned a lot from it.

“I was so fortunate to be in this room full of university students ... the thing everyone wanted to know was ‘What are you going to do for me?’,” Dillingham said.

She said students didn’t feel like they had any reason to stay in Norman after they graduated.

Dillingham said this issue was a “huge wake-up call.” With the Porter Corridor Project, Dillingham said she would like to give students a reason to stay in Norman.