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Opening Minds to Personal & Economic Freedom |
LIBERTARIAN STUDIES ORGANIZATION I | |
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Purpose
The primary purpose of
the LSO is to give college students an opportunity to advance their
knowledge of libertarianism as a political philosophy and to see how
practical applications of freedom and liberty can be used to solve
problems that exist in society.
Organization Board of Advisors The Libertarian Studies Organization has a National Board of Advisors who provide advice, ideas, networking contacts and help to local LSO chapters their college campus. The founding Board of Advisors are:
John McAlister, JohnMcAlister.com, is the founder and owner of SourceBenefits.com in Columbus, OH. In 1998 he joined the Libertarian Party and was elected the Central Region Chair of the Libertarian Party of Ohio and appointed to the Publicity Chair. He was the Libertarian Party Candidate for the US Senate in Ohio in the 2000 Election and currently is a member of City Council in the Columbus suburb of Gahanna.
James Lark -- Professor of Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, Active Member of the Libertarian Party of Virginia and Faculty Member of Success/99 Program of the National LP and was National Chair of the Libertarian Party in 2000/2001.
Brian Gomez -- Brian Gomez is a writer/producer for "Direct Source," a talk show on WERE-AM in Cleveland. He has written and produced TV programming, TV/radio commercials and corporate video, and written advertising and feature stories for the print media. He is a Kent State University graduate with a B.A. in Telecommunications and Political Science. Gomez joined the Libertarian Party in 1995 and is currently the Campus Coordinator for the LP of Ohio.
As the LSO grows nationally the Board of Advisors will be expanded and structured to handle growth of the Organization.
Structure of Chapters The LSO is a student run organization with student officers and a faculty advisor at each chapter. Students form their own by-laws to conform with the rules of student organizations on each respective campus. The by-laws express the purpose and organization of the LSO. Typically there is a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer or Secretary/Treasurer. The President may also hold the position of Secretary/Treasurer in a new chapter.
Chapter Activity
Chapter activity centers around providing opportunities to accomplish the purpose of the LSO as stated in the Introduction and Purpose. To this end students can utilize a wide variety of activities and resources to reach their goals.
There is a plethora of material available from fine libertarian organizations such as: The CATO Institute, Heartland Institute, Ludwig vonMises Institute, Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Federalist Society, Foundation for Economic Education, Institute for Justice, Institute for Humane Studies and, Libertarian Studies Center, The Future of Freedom Foundation, the Atlas Foundation and many more. (See Favorite Links)
Chapters are encouraged to build and maintain a reference library, collect policy papers from libertarian organizations and make this research material available to faculty and students.
Chapters can sponsor seminars, panel discussions, lectures, field trips, workshops. They can host political candidates, speakers, etc. They can hold weekly or monthly meetings on campus to promote libertarianism and the LSO. They can host receptions, regional meetings, they can go to Libertarian Conventions and local Libertarian meetings. For example the Ohio State Chapter sponsored the following event: Movimiento Libertario
They can publish a monthly journal, develop a web site, publicize and advertise. Leadership, personal growth and development can be achieved through accomplishing all of or any of these activities.
Future Expansion
This could be precipitated by the growth of libertarianism itself as a political philosophy and as a political party. Libertarianism is replacing the political philosophy of the tired old political parties and bringing America back to its roots -- individual freedom and personal responsibility. Only by promoting, increasing and exalting these two precious ideals can America continue to grow and prosper in all aspects of life. In challenging status quo thinking through the Libertarian Studies Organization students can look at truth through the lens of historical and contemporary libertarian thought. The LSO can be the catalyst to create passion and spark the imagination for the young people of today to create the libertarian future that was hoped for by the founders of our country.
Libertarian Studies Organization
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