Last month the newly formed Student Party chose Brian Hoskins as its candidate in the race for a State College Borough Council seat, but this is not the first time students have sought an active role in local government.

Hoskins will run on the independent ticket but will represent the Student Party, which is not an official political party.

The first student to serve on the council was Dean Phillips, who was appointed in 1973. Since his resignation in 1977, few students have been able to follow in Phillips' footsteps.

That is not to say that no one has tried. In 1989, 22-year-old Penn State student Ron Marlow ran unsuccessfully for a council seat.

Students Adam Bender, Ed Howard and Rich Haines all attempted to obtain a seat in 1993. Bender was the only one to appear on the ballot and he did not win a seat.

Mike Burcik came close to obtaining a council seat in the 1994 election. Running on the Democratic ticket, Burcik won the primaries but lost the November race by slightly more than 200 votes.

Jason Birdsell and Jason Covener also ran unsuccessful campaigns for the council seats in 1996 and 1997.

While there have been many individual attempts for local government positions, Penn State students have also organized political parties. In 1999, students formed the Keg Party, which attempted to run candidates for county commissioner and council seats. The party, however, was forced to disband because it did not have enough candidates to run for the available seats.

Student candidates have always shown a lot of enthusiasm, council member Jean McManis said, adding that she encourages other students to run.

"Personally, I think we are too old," she said.

McManis said students lose for a variety of reasons.

"You have to have a lot of recognition," she said. "Even if you have that, you have to reach out and tell people why you are going to be a good person to represent them."

McManis also said many students register but then never vote.

Student Party member Martin Austermuhle said his party plans to combat this problem with an ambitious student registration plan. In the fall semester, Student Party candidates will make appearances around campus to get students to the polls, he said.

Another problem might be the choice of parties with which student candidates choose to affiliate themselves. Successful candidates such as Phillips and Burcik ran on major party tickets.

McManis said students should look at the numbers at the polls before choosing party affiliation.

"You are making a big mistake if you don't get into a party and get those straight party votes," McManis said.

The Student Party has specific reasons, however, for choosing to be an independent third party.

"We wanted to show that we are very different," Austermuhle said. "We didn't want to associate with another (party)."

McManis said student representation would raise issues that the council has not addressed. "No matter what our intentions are, there are issues that we just might not think of," she said.