Dear Libertarian newsletter editor:
Please consider putting some version
of this in your next issue.
Please ask me any clarifying questions that arise.
Join me in this
effort if you are so inclined. Steer me to anyone
you believe may
be interested in having me contact them directly with
a request to
be a part of this.
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How Many Student Activists Do You Want In YOUR LP?
Imagine being recognized at your next
LP Convention for helping
to bring more members to the Party than anyone else in
1999! Imagine
the satisfaction of being thought of as their "mentor"
by the next
generation of Libertarian Activists!
Have you ever thought there must be
a part time, fun, and doable
Libertarian project in which you could be a major player?
Please join
me in getting a new project to recruit students as LP
members in your
state. Your role can be as large or as small as
fits your level of
interest. Let me explain PROJECT
JUMPSTART!
On October 23, I heard from Josh Mercer,
a good friend of mine who
is a student at Hillsdale College. Josh has been
the creator and
publisher of a national libertarian college newspaper,
The Restoration,
for over a year. It is distributed to over 120
U.S. campuses and
has been generating great interest in liberty in those
places. Josh
told me, "I need your help!"
Josh explained to me that significant
increases in the number of
students joining the LP could be achieved with a $10
dues structure
for students. Remembering well my days of poverty
as a student,
(remind me to share the story of $.29 a pound liver)
I decided to
pursue Josh's idea.
Rather than struggle with the bureaucracy
of making a policy
change in the dues structure, I propose creating a private
fund
to subsidize LP memberships. I am doing this as
a demonstration
project in Region 3 (MI, OH, IN, KY, and WV) but I have
challenged
the other Regional Representatives to the LNC to do the
same.
I first pledged $1,500 of my own savings
to provide seed money
for the project. Part of this is available to any
state LP or
individual member in Region 3 (in a 1:2 match) for subsidizing
student memberships in that state. For each subsidized
student
member, the costs would be shared as follows:
Student - $10
Ken Bisson - $5
State LP (or Individual)- $10
Since all Region 3 states participate
in the Unified Membership
Plan, over the next twelve months the state party will
receive $12
in UMP payments for each $10 contribution.
If you were planning to contribute
$100 this year to your state
LP anyway, use that amount to help fund this project
in your state.
They'll end up with $120 and you'll have boosted your
membership.
I will exchange names between you and your "sponsored"
students.
You and I can be available to answer the new member's
questions and
be a local contact for them in the Party. You can
be an anonymous
contributor, if you prefer, of course.
Make growth in student membership in
the LP your personal goal
for 1999. Lets demonstrate in YOUR STATE what results
we can achieve.
Your $100 can give you the opportunity to say, "I brought
10 new
libertarians into the Party this year." If you've
ever wanted to
be able to say that, don't pass this by. Join the
JUMPSTART team now.
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For more information, email Ken Bisson at kbisson@usa.net