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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2002)
NEl battaik CTION n Kansas a ran on paj}. ember 21,% 1 Merry man, om hman Pagel aerosp ior. “Last nigi e hours of;. ; up for an S some stre it is dealt, shion, but it [ t when itn Rocking the vote Two A&M students campaign for justice of the peace against incumbent Boyett to maintain average, Ka omore buy-, has trouble ss ing to rusli; become par ? e available ents are free, ce at R.::: Aggielife The Battalion Page 3A f Monday, September 30, 2002 By Erica York THE BATTALION Going to class, studying and taking ests is enough responsibility for most tudents, but for Jared Copeland, a enior political science major, school ust isn’t enough. Copeland is running for Brazos lounty justice of the peace for the 3rd bout evenrfretinct in the November election. Copeland said college students lon’thave enough representation in r me,” shesj Jryan-College Station’s local govem- et a little ha: ^ent. ‘There’s no reason we shouldn’t Ouna ScAa ve a current Aggie as justice of the :tivities into P ce - ’ Copeland said. “Being a col- free masv? lege student and running for office in a e therapists, j allege town makes sense.” with, coma Copeland said justice of the peace t duck ractf is a four-year term. booths dec Be plans on only taking one or two linistries: th classes a semester and possibly push- sex. develr ing hack his graduation date if elected and dealing: 50 i 16 can foNy concentrate on the office. “Running a campaign and staying focused on school has already been MSC Rad iifficult ’ But I knew when I filed to run j p.m, that it was going to be a lot of hard work,” he said. "It’s something I know can handle.” Chris Durham, a senior genetics major and class of 2003 president, said taff"deveior llle characleris,ics Aggies share, fully develop lndud ' n 8 honeslv an.l imegrity, can he 7 ^■powerful in a local office. “I think because Aggies make up such a large percentage of the Bryan- College Station community, it’s impor tant to see Aggies moving beyond campus to get involved and represent their fellow students in local politics," Durham said. im mml , Co P e/and sa ' d running as a democ- ® razos County hasnl bepn an oostacle because most people realize justice of the peace is an office in i roved a rec; tries with unt ( sentially deds ors to negotir ms. ieet on o Iraq ^ will dowr ng back into tht nfettered acces; tates unless tht made in 19% l off old equip: ind testing ns ites negotiates! which political party affiliation doesn’t matter. “Our biggest obstacle has been not having as much money as we would like to run the kind of campaign we want,” he said. Copeland said he has spent more than $4,CKX) on his campaign, but most of it has been donated by supporters. Copeland is running against Republican George Boyett. Boyett has been justice of the peace for the 3rd precinct for 14 years, and Copeland is the first candidate to run against him, he said. “Politicians in office too long can forget who put them there,” Copeland said. “I feel that our campaign offers a chance for change.” Copeland said he decided to run for justice of the peace after hearing how George Boyett treated people. "When I found out I lived in his precinct I knew I could do a better job as justice of the peace. I saw some thing that needed change and decided to do something to change it,” Copeland said. "The more I thought about the idea, the more people pushed me and the more support I received.” Copeland said he had a lot of sup porters willing to go with him to knock on more than 1,000 doors this summer as part of his campaign. “Some of the people helping with my campaign wanted campaign experi ence, some I met randomly, and some just wanted to help after I told them I was running against Boyett,” he said. “My supporters are a variety of peo ple.” Copeland said he thinks he is more qualified because he would listen and be there for people. If elected, he would be required to attend a school for first-time justices of the peace for a month in Austin. “I’m old enough to know what’s right and what’s wrong,” Copeland said. “There are former and current justice of the peace candidates who have taught me things.” Scott Fredericksen, a microcomput er specialist and Bryan resident, said he would feel more comfortable with someone as justice of the peace who had a little bit more life experience. “As far as I’m con cerned, a student would lack the maturity to handle that level of responsibility,” Fredericksen said. Though Copeland's campaign is directed toward the entire community, Copeland said the current focal point of the campaign is on campus. Ten thousand people live on campus and Copeland needs 4,000 votes to win, he said. “If I could tell people one thing, it would be to register to vote,” he said. “If students will turn out to vote. I’ll definitely win.” Copeland said there are some specific things he would like to change if elected, such as extend ing court hours in order to have night and week end court sessions to bet ter serve students. “1 want to bring fairness and respect back to the office of justice of the peace,” he said. “I want to treat individuals as indi viduals and not as revenue for the county.” After the campaign and his possible election to the office, Copeland said that he would like to go to law school and eventual ly pursue a career in politics, party voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov 1. Election day is Nov. 5, and students can vote at the Memorial Student Center. “I feel confident that I will win,” Copeland said. “We’ve worked really hard for nine months now and it’s down to the last few weeks. I’m confi dent that our hard work will pay off.” Stephanie Berlin, a senior psycholo gy major, is also running for justice of the peace as a member of the libertari an party against Copeland and Boyett, but was unavailable for comment. RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION Buy flEA/r Tickets & save 50% off LA BOHEME i fall and springs^ is and exam peiw)s ? EASIER: Send adds I mi. i the Division of SW!' 3 ld Building. Ne«®' ivw.thebatt.com fhe Battalion. Fon^- 1845-0569. Adveitsl iFriday. Fax: 845-26f ( lick up a single cof )olyear,$30foftiii' asteiCaid, Disco® ■ * D \er of ? call in a nh- w, jrvices iarage- DIRECT FROM BROADWAY October 29 and 30 Rudder Auditorium hen composer Giacomo Puccini premiered his captivating opera in 1896, he probably never dreamt that a century later, the story of LA BOHEME would be reinvented on the Broadway stage by composer Jonathan Larson. But that's precisely what happened with RENT. MSC OPAS celebrates two breath taking versions of the same story this October. Don't miss this chance of a lifetime to see both on the same stage tn the same month. Purchase your RENT ticket and save 50% off LA BOHEME. To take advantage of the discount, just bring this ad to the MSC BOX OFFICE today. The MSC Box Office is located on the first floor of Rudder Tower. Questions? Call 845-12341 This 50% off discount made possible by the OPAS Endowment. October 1 and 2 Rudder Auditorium LAGNIAPPE LECTURE SERIES: Join us for an informal discussion previewing La Boheme. Part of the OPAS Guild's Patricia S. Peters Lagniappe Lecture Series, the discussions will be held prior to each performance at 6:30 p.m. in the Stark Gallery at the MSC. Redeemable in-person at MSC Box Office only, Limit 2 tickets to each program/coupon, Not valid for tickets already purchased,TAMU student iD required, Offer expires October 2, 2002.Tickets to LA BOHEME and RENT must be purchased at the same time to receive the discount. -T MSC Ij^g* Three Decades of Performing Arts