This Saturday the Penn State College Republicans will host the "Pennsylvania State College Republican Winter Weekend" for the second time in three years.

The Winter Weekend, to be held in Boucke Building, will allow College Republicans from throughout the state to exchange ideas on fundraising, student activism, membership recruitment and current political issues.

Officers from the various clubs will also attend lectures and a state board meeting -- in which future statewide activities are discussed.

Annually rotated to a different school, Penn State offers a central location for the convention, said John A. Souren, the College Republican regional director for Central Pennsylvania and the group's chairman.

He said he expects 25-30 clubs ranging from small colleges like Wilson to larger ones such as Carnegie Mellon.

The convention will feature lectures by local, state and national government figures. Congressman William Clinger, Centre County G.O.P. Committeeman Jeff Bower and Centre County G. O. P. Chairman Charles Mong will discuss the impact student activism can make on campaigns at all levels.

Clinger will also address changes in Eastern Europe and its 1992 economic restoration, said Pat Conway, District Representative for Congressman Clinger.

Part of a delegation of U.S. representatives, Clinger meets regularly with European Parliament to discuss current topics on economic changes and political reforms. Conway said Clinger believed those topics were important to college students.

"Conventions in the past have been very beneficial and we have learned a lot of things," Souren said.

At past conventions, group members have learned how to correctly write a press release, what technology to use for recruiting members and ideas for conducting opinion polls.

For example, during last year's convention held at Temple University they took a pool of the best and worst U.S. presidents.

The group members liked the idea and decided to hold a similar voting contest at Penn State, Souren said. From the contest, they were able to obtain statistics about what the students thought about particular administrations.

Souren said the 450 member, nationally organized group tries to spread the ideology of the Republican platform and thus assist Republicans on the local, state and national levels of government. Currently, the group is focusing on the upcoming elections in all three areas.

To help garner support, the group is organizing Conservative Awareness Week in March. Although they are still booking the speakers and planning a rally on the steps of Old Main, Souren said he expects it to be the group's biggest activity of the year.

The group is also publishing the Debater for the first time. The pamphlet, which is scheduled to come out three times a semester, will cover debates within the Republican party.