Ten students visited the mobile office hours that State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, held Friday in 110 HUB.

"Lots of students aren't interested in state news. I'm not surprised at the turnout," Benninghoff said.

Some students said they did not know about Benninghoff's visit.

"I didn't hear about it or know about it," Vladislav Mashkov (junior-finance) said.

Benninghoff said mobile office hours are usually successful in his district because many of the areas he has to cover are rural.

"People like the concept of [mobile office hours]. People like that we come to them; they don't have to come to us," Benninghoff said. "Hopefully people do find us accessible."

He added that he feels most people in power are not as accessible as they should be.

"That can be intimidating. That's why I didn't show up in a suit and tie today," he said. "I went around and talked to the students to see what issues they're interested in."

Students contacted Benninghoff to talk about topics that were important to them, such as the proposed mandatory draft bill, while another group of students talked about public smoking.

The most popular issue Benninghoff has been contacted for since he has been in office is the "chaperone law," which states that for an establishment with a liquor license, there must be one chaperone over the age of 25 for every five people under 21. This law caused much controversy in State College in spring 2003, forcing some venues to cancel some under-21 events.

"I think anyone should be able to go to any music venue. It's impractical," he said.

Benninghoff said he would like to see more students get involved with state government.

"I think students can get confused with their local representatives and what they can do for them," he said.

Some students said they were not sure how to get involved in the local state government.

Erin McMullen (sophomore-communications) said she had not heard about Benninghoff's hours and added that even though she might have thought about going, she probably would not have attended.

"If you really don't know about [local government issues] before you get here, it's hard to get involved," McMullen said.

Sheri Shannon (junior-earth sciences) said she lives in Virginia, and like many other students who do not live in Pennsylvania, it is hard to get involved in local government.

Mobile office hours will return to the HUB before Election Day. Benninghoff said he is hoping for a better location with more access to students.

"I want to know what's important to the students ... I'm here to learn as much as I'm here to talk," he said.