Travis Townsend exclaimed in Dr. Paul Fabrizio's Campaigns and Elections class at McMurry. Across town at Hardin-Simmons University, students normally would be pouring all their energy into the upcoming football playoffs. Instead, they're hooked on politics. We pick up a newspaper or turn on a TV whenever we can. Political science professors like Fabrizio and HSU's Dr. Victor Carrillo never would have guessed at the beginning of the semester that they, and their classes, would be so sought after by everyone from reporters to strangers calling for explanations.
Anytime students start to discuss important current events, it's a positive thing.
At McMurry, Fabrizio teaches his campaigns class every two years to coincide with state and national elections. Never has one turned out like this year. At the beginning of the semester, Fabrizio had Republican students sit on one side of the classroom and Democrats on the other, divided by a row of chairs. At the time, a recount of votes in New Mexico showed Bush leading Gore by 17 votes. With 16 students plus himself, Fabrizio had a ready-made civics lesson.