Dartmouth students were unceremoniously awakened from their day of rest early Saturday morning as rock music blasted from speakers outside of Alpha Delta fraternity.
With the presence of Music Television, there to kick off its "Choose or Lose" campaign, the atmosphere surrounding Sen. Bob Dole's speech seemed more like a rock concert than a political address.
Before and after Dole's speech MTV workers moved through the crowd in front of their red, white and blue tour bus, handing out pamphlets and pins and encouraging people to register to vote.
The "Choose or Lose" campaign is a nation-wide effort to encourage young people to register and vote.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, MTV News reporter Tabitha Soren said she was pleased with the start of this year's "Choose or Lose" campaign.
"It was good," she said. "A lot of students came out and registered to vote. They seemed really enthusiastic."
In addition to registering to vote in Alumni Gymnasium, students filled out cards which said they promised to vote in the upcoming election.
The cards will be mailed to students as the election nears to remind them of their commitment.
"If you don't register, you can't vote," Soren said. "If you don't vote you lose out on a voice in your country."
Scott Braman '99, who registered to vote on Saturday through the "Choose or Lose" campaign, said he doesn't think he would have registered without it.
"I don't know why I didn't register before," he said. "It is really important to register to vote. I am pretty disappointed I didn't register before."
Senior Vice President and Executive Producer for MTV News Dave Sirulnick said MTV decided to launch the campaign at Dartmouth because they wanted to kick it off by interviewing Dole and they were planning to be in New Hampshire.Dole said he is happy with MTV's effort to register young voters.
"I like [the campaign]," he said. "It's important for young people to get out and vote."
After speaking in front of AD, Dole boarded MTV's bus and chatted on-line for 10 minutes, Soren said.
The bus then departed for Claremont and Soren interviewed Dole for about an hour, Sirulnick said.
Soren said the interview "went really well."
"He cracked a few jokes," she said. "A lot of young people don't know he has a sense of humor. He said a lot of important things too."
The interview will be aired on MTV tonight.
The MTV "Choose or Lose" bus will travel around the country registering young voters until the November election, Sirulnick said.
Sirulnick said Saturday was the first time the bus was used in conjunction with a presidential candidate.
While students could not tour the bus Saturday, MTV allowed The Dartmouth to view the inside of the bus.
The bus, which consisted of an interviewing area, kitchen, editing suite and bathroom, was built in Columbus, Ohio.
The interior was covered with plum wallpaper with gold stars. Gold picture frames decorated the window frames.
Two large striped armchairs with a computer in front of them furnished the front of the bus. At the back, a wraparound couch with a very colorful round table sat on top of an orange and black carpet.
While the bus made two stops before reaching Dartmouth, Soren called this event the launching of "Choose or Lose" because it was the first stop involving a candidate.
Its first destination was Tavern on the Green in New York City, Sirulnick said.
