In a two-party machine, campus volunteers are quickly learning that it\'s not easy being Green (or Libertarian)

Life is full of choices, but where many Americans feel they lack choices is the political spectrum. Often it's a choice between the lesser of two evils, a choice between two candidates whose platform doesn't match up to a voter's preference.\nWhat many Americans don't realize is that there is a third choice, a candidate running independently or with a "third party." \nIn 1992 a big-eared Texan named Ross Perot made history by earning a staggering 19 percent of the popular vote, showing that about a fifth of the voting population is fed up with the current two-party system.\nThis election year, two campus groups are looking to inform students of other options when they go to the voting booth Nov. 7. The IU Libertarians and IU Greens are both just getting off the ground and trying to pull together in time for the election.\nLibertarians\nHow many Libertarians does it take to screw in a light bulb?\nThis is the question that graduate student Erin Hollinden, chair for the Monroe County Libertarians, proposed to a group of about 25 people at an IU Libertarians meeting Oct. 9.\nSo what's the answer?\nNone. \n"Let the free market take care of it," Hollinden says.\nThat statement sums up, in a nutshell, the ideals of the Libertarian party. As a whole, each liberal believes in the same basic principles.\nHollinden says the Libertarian philosophy can be summed up in two words: less government. That means fewer taxes, less social programs and less foreign aid.\nLibertarian ideals can be split into two basic areas, personal and economic.\nThe personal freedoms Libertarians are pushing for include the elimination of the draft, no censorship whatsoever, no sex laws (also commonly referred to as "blue laws"), no drug laws and open borders with other nations.\n"Self-ownership," Hollinden says. "The government shouldn't be able to use us as cannon fodder … should not be able to tell us was to do sexually…should not be able to tell us what to put into our bodies."\nThe economic freedoms include no subsidizing, free trade, no minimum wage, no user fees (i.e. no taxes) and no foreign aid.\n"I think people that know what (libertarianism) is either embrace it or find it impractical and sometimes find it crazy," Hollinden says. \nFree to live her life\nWhen freshman Leanne Dodge came to campus she searched for a Libertarian presence. What she found was contact information for Hollinden, who happened to be the former head of the IU Libertarians. Dodge has since assumed the position of organizer for the group.\nDodge first began to identify herself with the Libertarian party during the latter part of high school. She says the principles of the party parallel her own views and values -- that each individual ought to be free to control his or her own life. She says the primary role of government is to protect individual rights.\n"Sitting in classes and walking around campus, I see people who ought to be free to live their lives without a government taking their money and telling them how to live," Dodge says.\nAt the Oct. 9 meeting, the group tossed around several ideas ranging from speakers to a car smash. On Nov. 1 the IU Libertarians will participate in mock presidential debates. \nDodge is also looking beyond this year's election to get libertarianism out around campus. She says she thinks a lot of people don't know what libertarianism is.\n"Grassroots libertarianism begins at the community level, where word is spread about the party idea."\nDodge says there is a wide concept that libertarianism is for the elimination of government, but she says that is not the case.\nThe Green Party\n"We are significant," says Nate Wolf, representative for the IUB Campus Greens. "We are deciding this election."\nThe "we" Wolf is referring to is today's youth, the college-aged student that has a chance to make a serious impact in this year's election. Senior Rob Larson, another Green Party supporter, says the Green party has always had an appeal to younger people. \nThe Green Party is built upon "The Ten Key Values." These provide a base for which every Green candidate can run.\nThe IUB Greens are trying to get the word out about the Green Party in general and its presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. The party's primary vehicle for doing this is tabling at the Union every Tuesday and Thursday. \nWolf says the response so far has been fantastic. He says 90 percent of the students they have interacted with have given them a positive response\n"They are really glad to see our presence on campus," Wolf says.\nUp until this semester, the Greens had no presence on campus. Wolf and some other students started the IUB Campus Greens and have only been active for a few weeks.\nBut being such a young group has caused some problems, especially with fundraising. Since the Greens fight for rights of the consumer, corporate donations are nil.\nBut things are starting to look up. The group raised $502 in its first day of canvassing with eight people in four hours. The volunteers went door-to-door and worked on Kirkwood Avenue.\nThis first money is going toward a billboard for Nader on Third Street and College Avenue.\nOther activities the group is involved in are Green Party trips. The group went to Chicago for a Nader "Super-Rally," Oct. 10, and Oct. 17 the group drove to St. Louis to protest Nader's exclusion from the third and final presidential debate.\n"It's really important that you're here," Wolf said to a group of about 25 people at an organizational meeting Oct. 8. "It's really important that you stick with it."\nRunning into politics\nWolf remembers his first encounter with Ralph Nader.\nOver the summer, Wolf worked on Nader's campaign at the Greens' national headquarters in Washington, D.C. His duties included organizing events, developing programs and helping to author an organizing manual. \nIt had been a terribly hot and long week, Wolf remembers.\n"Every week is during a campaign in Washington, D.C.," he says.\nWhile running a delivery to FedEx, the skies opened up and Wolf got soaked. Upon return, Wolf celebrated a hard week's work by splitting a six-pack with a few co-workers.\nBut after grabbing a beer, he ran upstairs and almost ran right into Nader.\n"There I was, sugging (sic) down a beer, running around the campaign office absolutely soaking wet when I first meet Ralph Nader, my presidential candidate," Wolf says.\nWolf became involved in the Green Party over the natural evolution of his political maturation. After his summer campaign experience, he wanted to stay active and help the campaign.\n"I would say my life is influenced by these values," says Wolf. He says that all of the 10 values are important and focus on improving the quality of life for all people.\nThe main goal for the election is education, Wolf says. He wants to overcome common third-party stereotypes and emphasize that voting for Nader is not throwing a vote away.\n"Just changing peoples mindsets and preconceptions and misperceptions is a big task," Wolf says.\nWolf believes that many of his views are being ignored by the current two-party system. That is why he felt it was important to get involved with the group. He says he thinks the reasons so many people don't get involved or don't vote is because they don't feel properly represented, which leads to apathy.\n