An all-too-typical scene played out in Pearson Hall Monday night, as the Republican Party’s precinct caucus, one of more than 30 in Ames, was attended by only three people.

One of those at the meeting was Iowa State student Phil Milam, freshman in business.

“I thought that more people would read the Daily, see it in there and show up,” he said of the sparse turnout.

Milam said those who don’t participate in the government will get left behind.

“People need to get more involved in politics,” he said. “The country’s growing every day and they need to get a foothold.”

He said an ambition to run for office is what drives him.

“I’m going to be very involved in politics my whole life,” Milam said.

In the last two years, he has already done his share, taking part in the 1996 county and state conventions as a junior delegate and working as a page at the national convention in San Diego.

Milam, who is 18, said he hopes to be elected to a county-level office next year and work his way up to the Statehouse by age 21.

Elizabeth Conway, vice-chairwoman of College Republicans and a junior in architecture, served as chair of the caucus. She said the lack of attendance proves that Ames has too many precincts.

“It’s kind of ridiculous when you look at the turnout that comes here,” Conway said.

Not many students were aware of the caucuses because of poor advertising, Conway said.

Despite the obvious dearth of viewpoints, there were three platform planks approved at the caucus. They were passed unanimously as follows:

• We oppose the initiative taken by some members of the Republican party requiring all candidates who receive party funds to pass the party’s litmus test regarding abortion.

• We oppose performing abortion except in the case of rape, incest and medical necessity or using government funds for any such operation.

• We advocate giving state government more control over education and environmental policy.

At the beginning of the caucus, Conway read three letters from candidates at the state and local level.

The first was from ISU student Gentry Collins, senior in political science. He asked for support in his District 52 Iowa House race against long-time incumbent Bill Bernau.

Collins also provided pamphlets outlining his pledge to advocate education improvement, tax reform and family farms.

Jay Marcus, who is running against Leonard Boswell for Iowa’s District 3 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, submitted a letter.

He said he would push for the institution of 12-year term limits on all elected officials and the rotation of committee chair positions in the U.S. House and Senate to encourage a “lean and clean government.”

In addition, Marcus, who is from Fairfield, mentioned several radical changes in education, such as a lengthened school year, separate classes for boys and girls, and tax incentives for college graduates who stay in Iowa.

Iowa’s Secretary of State Paul Pate submitted a letter with the theme, “There are things wrong here and we need to fix them.”

Pate is campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

He proposed a modified flat tax, in which some deductions would be maintained, and he suggested abolishing the pension tax.