SENIOR ACTS ON STRONG INTEREST IN POLITICS

Most high school seniors focus on such essential activities as playing sports, working on the fall play and participating in student council. But senior Blair McCarthy has added one more activity to her list: politics.

"I'm very much involved in Congressman John Hostettler's 8th District campaign," she said.

McCarthy's days are full at Lake Memorial High School in Evansville. Besides being on the varsity swim team, working on the school's fall play, serving as Student Council president, and participating in the Boy Scouts' coed Venturing program, she also volunteers at Goodwill's resources for the deaf and hard of hearing in addition to showing up at Hostettler's office once a week.

McCarthy has always been interested in government and politics. When she was little, she wanted to be a Supreme Court justice. She also was inspired by former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, now administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"When I was in fourth grade, I lived in New Jersey, and they had an open house at the governor's mansion one day. My dad took my brother and I there, and I was just so impressed by the fact that there was a woman running our state and that there was a woman in charge -- that a female could make it in the world of politics," she said. "When I think back to it, that was probably the first time when I really thought, 'Hey, I'm a girl and I can do this, too.' "

McCarthy's first taste of politics was Student Council.

"I was impressed by the parliamentary procedure that we used throughout our meetings, and from that I started reading a little bit on our council constitution, and trying to compare that with the constitutions from other groups in the school," she said.

She supports the Republican Party because she thinks its platform best reflects her personal views.

"For a while I was almost a Democrat, but then I guess I learned more about the issues. It kind of goes along with being in a Catholic school and the Catholic environment."

McCarthy does many things to help out the Hostettler campaign. She writes news releases, runs errands, organizes volunteers and cuts articles out of newspapers about important events, the candidate and opposing candidates.

"I've learned a lot about office equipment just working in the office. The first time I worked a fax machine, I was in awe," she said.

She believes all efforts are crucial in this year's election.

"In a precinct like ours, especially with the recent redistricting, the races are probably going to be extremely close," she said.

"Once you become 18 and you're eligible to vote, that's a huge responsibility for you. It's important for you to know the issues and why you're going to vote for someone. In politics, ignorance works against you because if you vote for the wrong person and they get into office, you're stuck with the wrong person," she said.

McCarthy said working in a congressman's office has helped her become more aware of the world.

"I think being involved has kind of opened my eyes to what's going on in the world, what's going on here locally, and basically what people can do to make a difference," she said. "You hear people complain about the government and politics. Every time they hear the word, they think corruption, deceit or just having to pay their taxes. To me, it's more of a choice, a chance for change."

In addition to her work on Hostettler's campaign, McCarthy is starting a Teen Age Republicans chapter at her school.

"I just started asking people individually, you know, 'If we started this, would you be interested in it?' "

The group agreed that they would support their congressman by writing letters and going to rallies. McCarthy soon found that many students in her school were interested in politics, but the administration was hesitant to allow an openly political club.

Nevertheless, the group is active. "There's a bunch of us that work the Republican campaigns. We volunteer to go canvassing, volunteer at the congressman's office and down at the Republican booths and everything. We're going to work the polls pretty soon. And I'm in the process of drawing up a formal proposal that will go to the administration that outlines what TAR stands for," she added.

McCarthy also spent her summer working as a page at the U.S. House of Representatives.

"That was a wonderful experience. There are very few people that actually have access to the House floor, and so I was fortunate enough to be one of them. We were right there on the floor when they're making bills, when they're passing laws, when they're voting and everything, and it was just an amazing experience.

"One of the most memorable experiences was probably when my congressman allowed me to watch him vote -- you know, like put the card in and push the little button. So that was pretty cool for me because I felt kind of like I was representing our district and watching our congressman in action," she said.

"We were also there for the expulsion of Congressman James Traficant from Ohio. And so all the pages stayed that evening to listen to the debates on the House floor and watch as the voting went on because we knew that we were seeing history in the making."

The experience fueled her political aspirations.

"It's always been my dream to work on the Hill, and to have the opportunity when I'm still in high school is amazing. When I get into college, I'd probably like to be an intern or a legislative aide, and eventually I guess my dream job would be the chief of staff for a U.S. senator."

REPORTERS: Allison Gardner, 12; Caroline Maxwell, 13; Britney McTush, 13.