Political Sightseeing -college students spend two weeks in Boston

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-class4aug04.story
IN THE CLASSROOM
Political Sightseeing
Area college students spend two weeks in Boston, studying, working and learning firsthand at the Democratic convention.
By Cynthia Daniels Times Staff Writer August 4, 2004

For the California college students who used politically charged Boston as a classroom during the last two weeks, the details of government and presidential elections were lived as well as learned.

While other young people may have caught glimpses of the Democratic National Convention on MTV or CNN, these students were working at the gathering that nominated Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry for president last week. They worked security at the Fleet Center, served as assistants to newspaper and television operations, checked credentials at a delegation breakfast and helped officials during a golf tournament.

"You learn a lot more about politics when you actually experience the Washington scene rather than reading about it in a book," said Matthew Delja, a sophomore at Loyola Marymount University. He is one of the Los Angeles-area students who enrolled in the convention program. "Not only do you see how it works, you also affect the way it works."

Along with 229 other students, Delja was part of Campaign 2004: The National Political Conventions, a program sponsored by the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. The nonprofit educational organization also places college students in internships and seminars in the nation's capital.

Students from 25 states and six foreign countries participated in the two-week program, including some from Loyola Marymount, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Hayward and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

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