Over 80 organizations attend fair Wednesday
Eighty-eight student organizations registered for the Student Organization Fair on Wednesday, and many students gathered by the Babbling Brook near South Engineering to check out the booths.
With more than 200 student organizations on campus, a cross-section of them was represented with student organizations ranging from the College Democrats to the Wildlife Society.
Senior Zac Ista was at the College Democrats booth campaigning for his election to the North Dakota House of Representatives for District 13, West Fargo.
Ista made the decision to run for office last March, and said the campaign has gotten bigger every weekend since then.
“ We’re doing a lot of things to get our message out to the voters in West Fargo,” he said.
For his campaign, Ista’s crew is doing different things, including mailings, calling voters, parades and asking West Fargo residents to put signs in their yards, he said.
The election for the position is Nov. 7, and Ista has high hopes for the turnout.
“ We’re definitely running this race as hard as we can; we have unmatched energy, enthusiasm and effort out in West Fargo,” Ista said.
If Ista is elected, his main priority is addressing rising tuition costs in North Dakota, citing that his tuition has gone up nearly 30 percent since his first day of class.
In addition, since his emphasis in school is secondary education, Ista is focusing on funding for K-12 education. Although he is focusing on his political career right now, teaching is still in his future.
“ Teaching is definitely something I look forward to doing in my life,” he said. “I think being in politics is another way to meet some of the goals I have as a teacher and making kids the top priority.”
Although Ista remains enthusiastic for his campaign, he understands that not everyone is always going to agree with him.
“ If your politics are different than mine I encourage you to get involved with whoever you think the best candidates are,” Ista said.
Among the other organizations at the event were the Wildlife Society and Women in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.
Kayla Helm, a zoology senior, was manning the Wildlife Society booth.
“ We’re a group that works with any kind of animal,” Helm said.
While the organization primarily is made up of zoology majors, Helm said they have a variety of different majors represented in the organization, including natural resource and English majors.
In the past, the organization has done service projects for the zoo, including helping it get ready for the summer crowd.
In addition, the group makes toys for the animals at the zoo, like pinatas for the monkeys and noisemakers for the tigers, Helm said.
Susie Stone, a psychology major, was at the Women in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology booth.
“ A lot of it is networking, getting to know people in your major, especially the sciences and engineering where there maybe aren’t very many girls in your major,” Stone said.
As of now, the organization has three members, but is looking to expand in the future.
WISMET meets 7 p.m. Tuesdays in the Memorial Union.
The Wildlife Society meets at 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays in Stevens Hall, Room 231.