Over 60 delegates from Arizona attended the Democratic National Convention in July. One of those included UA political science senior Joshua Silverstein, who attended the first four days of the DNC.

"I could not believe the energy that came from the speeches and the groups of people from across the country coming together," Silverstein said. "I wanted to go because it's such an important year in elections."

It was the first DNC Silverstein ever attended, but he said he recalls stories his mother told him about attending the 1972 DNC where she "partied with the Kennedys."

"I met so many interesting people; I just talked to so many great leaders," Silverstein said.

Some of those leaders included Madeline Albright, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Henry Cisneros, Texas Governor Anne Richards, Elizabeth Edwards and Cameron Kerry.

"I got to talk politics with Jerry Springer," Silverstein said. "That was one of the more memorable moments in the convention."

Silverstein said he met Springer while standing in a security line.

"He has a brilliant political mind; very astute," Silverstein said. "I was very impressed that he actually knew what was going on in Arizona."

Silverstein said he learned a lot from his experiences at the DNC.

"It takes a lot of people to make an organization like the Democratic Party work," Silverstein said. "It takes a lot of brilliant minds and I heard a lot of brilliant speeches from them. Unity is very important and I definitely believe a lot of its success is going to be based on that. I had a great experience, a very wonderful time."

As a member of the UA Young Democrats, Silverstein is also the founder of the Progressive Youth Caucus, a UA democratic group.

"We started [PYC] to encompass more people in the political process," Silverstein said. "I wanted to get more people involved in the issues that are important to them."

With over 40 active members in the PYC, Silverstein said the organization has raised over $10,000 for democratic causes.

"We're advancing the goals of our organization which are getting people registered to vote and informing them on the issues important to them," he said. "We're just trying to make it as easy to vote as possible."

That includes helping students register to vote and letting them know that they can vote through the mail.

Silverstein said one of the most important issues is education. He said he thinks students should be aware of the fact that college costs at the UA continue to rise, but, according to the Arizona constitution, education should be attainable for everyone.

Silverstein also said that democratic candidates who will be visiting the UA in the fall include District 8 Congressional Candidate and UA alum Tim Sultan, Rep. Raul Grijalva, County Supervisor of district 5 Richard Elias, and Dr. Henry Cisneros.

For more information about the PYC, visit pycpac.org.