{"160051":{"#nid":"160051","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Political Involvement Takes Student to National Convention","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHer participation in Georgia Tech\u2019s Georgia Legislative Internship Program in the office of Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers \u2013 a Tech alum \u2013 along with stints as a communications intern in Governor Nathan Deal\u2019s office and later as a legislative aide to Sen. Rogers, served to deepen the political passion Merry Hunter Hipp has always had. That passion led her to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in August: serving on the whip team of the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) with the RNC page program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause we\u2019re in a red state, the governor nominates to the Republican convention, but I don\u2019t think anyone, regardless of political party, would turn down such a chance,\u201d said Hipp, a fourth-year public policy major from Macon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer experience included distributing convention materials, leading chants within the arena and managing logistics to aid the convention\u2019s operation, as well as being \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/MittRomney\/status\/240970452950994944\/photo\/1\u0022\u003Etweeted by Mitt Romney\u003C\/a\u003E and brushing elbows with celebrities in news and politics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI talked to Diane Sawyer and stood 3 feet from a presidential nominee. I\u2019m a news hound, so I was like a 5-year-old there. Being part of the process was amazing,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the only Yellow Jacket to participate in the 2012 RNC page program, her collegiate affiliation was met with surprise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEveryone was impressed, I think because Tech students are usually so focused on academics that we aren\u2019t always as politically involved. But I think that\u2019s starting to change.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast week, hundreds of students attended an outdoor viewing party of the first presidential debate hosted by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gatech.edu\/newsroom\/release.html?nid=155931\u0022\u003EWreck the Vote, a student-run campaign organized to register students to vote and encourage them to actually cast their votes\u003C\/a\u003E. Hipp has even seen interest among international students who may not be eligible to vote but want to be more aware of U.S. politics and processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI follow politics for the people, not the party,\u201d said Hipp, who calls her own political leanings undefined. She urges those who, like her, aren\u2019t aligned with either the Republican or Democratic party to still research the candidates and decide who they think is better suited to be president.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou may not be enthusiastic every time [you vote], but find out which candidate best fits what it is you want the future to look like. If you don\u2019t cast a vote, you\u2019re not taking charge of where the future is headed. Our system may be flawed, but I still think it\u2019s the best.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHipp also urges students to file absentee ballots if needed; she filed her own first ballot as a registered voter from Metz, France, while studying abroad at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.georgiatech-metz.fr\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech-Lorraine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMerry Hunter Hipp attended the Republican National Convention and has helped establish the Wreck the Vote campaign on campus.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Merry Hunter Hipp attended the Republican National Convention and has helped establish the Wreck the Vote campaign on campus."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2012-10-05 17:59:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:54","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"160061":{"id":"160061","type":"image","title":"Merry Hunter Hipp at RNC","body":null,"created":"1449178896","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:36","changed":"1475894794","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:34","alt":"Merry Hunter Hipp at RNC","file":{"fid":"195392","name":"mhh.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mhh_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mhh_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":125440,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mhh_0.jpg?itok=lXnS5iUs"}}},"media_ids":["160061"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gov.gatech.edu\/internships.html","title":"Government and Community Relations Internships"},{"url":"http:\/\/sos.ga.gov\/elections","title":"Georgia Elections"},{"url":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/wreckthevote","title":"Wreck the Vote"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TechDems","title":"College Democrats of Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/gtrepublicans.com\/","title":"Georgia Tech College Republicans"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9475","name":"elections"},{"id":"3177","name":"politics"},{"id":"626","name":"public policy"},{"id":"3717","name":"voting"},{"id":"44221","name":"wreck the vote"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}