Keg Party holds first gathering

By ANGELA J. GATES
Collegian Staff Writer

Special guests urged students to take a more active role in government last night at the Keg Party's first official meeting, while signs displayed the party mottos: "Fight for your right to party," and "Fire Tom King."

Candidates for this year's Centre County Commissioners and State College Borough Council elections found a common thread in their differing goals in lobbying for more students to register and vote in Centre County elections.

"A practical goal clear to all of us is that we need student voting to succeed," said Julian Heicklen, a Libertarian candidate running for a county commissioner's seat.

"Without the students, we don't have a chance," he added.

If students would encourage fellow students to get involved, register and vote, they could make major changes in local government, said Scott Conklin, a Democrat also running for county commissioner.

"This is your home," he told the students in attendance. "You can have the biggest voice and the opportunity to control your own destiny."

Carla Moquin, who graduated last year from Penn State, said she plans to run as a Libertarian for county commissioner as well as borough council.

One of her main campaign goals is to make "victimless" acts such as underage drinking and doing drugs legal, she said.

"People should have the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies as long as they don't harm anyone else," she said.

Heicklen went even further, saying consensual acts among competent adults should be legal, such as prostitution, gambling and sodomy.

Both Heicklen and Moquin said they, along with the Keg Party, want to end zoning restrictions that are clearly aimed at discriminating students.

The group is not endorsing any candidates running against the Keg Party, but wanted to allow time for them to make comments, said Robert Hyneman, a founder of the Keg Party.

"We're a very different student group," Hyneman said. "One of our goals is to represent what the students already believe."

The party is looking for additional student input from other organizations such as Eco-Action and the Undergraduate Student Government Senate, he said.

After the candidates spoke, the Keg Party elected officers but left spaces open for new people to get involved, Hyneman said.

The group also discussed upcoming events, including completing their petition drive for signatures to remove State College Police Chief Tom King from office.

Hyneman said he was very pleased with the party's first meeting. "I think we struck a chord with the students," he said.