Mark Procopio believes that the federal government is way too big.John McAlister believes that libertarianism is the political philosophy on which American government was founded.J. Huston McCulloch believes that libertarian students should have a campus group.When they put it all together, the three students came up with the country’s first Libertarian Studies Organization. The founding chapter began acting at Ohio State this fall.”The LSO is a new student organization designed to discuss libertarian solutions to economic and social problems,” said McCulloch, professor of economics and finance and faculty advisor of this organization.The group meets the last Monday of each month to discuss topics of interest to the group.Procopio, a junior computer science major who serves as the president of the group, began the organization to create a forum for students to speak on governmental issues.”I started the LSO because I really enjoy hearing different people’s views on government,” he said.John McAlister, founder of the national the group, created the organization nationally because he saw a need to bring the libertarian philosophy to more students.”I felt there was a need for a campus-based student organization to introduce students to the philosophy and provide a forum for learning and discussion on campuses,” McAlister said.The group held its first meeting Oct. 29. “The first meeting was attended by 11 people including one man who just came in off the street who saw the sign,” McAlister said. “He described himself as a liberal and pro-social security. However, since the topic that night was how to get rid of social security, he said that the meeting really made him think about alternatives to it.”According to Procopio, the Libertarian party has a strong intellectual foundation. Some of those that contribute to the libertarian philosophy are authors Adam Smith, Charles Murry and Ayn Rand.Procopio said that he personally became a Libertarian is because he felt the federal government is too large to be efficient.”I guess to sum up why I am a Libertarian I would just have to say that the federal government is way too big,” he said. “The more I read about Libertarianism the more I liked it, but the key idea deals with downsizing the federal government to give more local control.”The group is concerned with how freedom and liberty can be used to solve problems that exist in society today. According to the web site, the group has three purposes:• 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. • To give students the opportunity to learn about libertarianism`s history, and institutions. It also gives students exposure to past and contemporary personalities in the libertarian movement as well as future prospects for growth of the movement both philosophically and politically. • To provide students a vehicle for gaining experience in leadership and personal development that is obtained by organizing and running of a student organization. With the 2000 Presidential Elections less than a year away, third parties like the Libertarian Party might have subtle effects in the outcome.”Like changes that the judicial system makes, the changes a third party makes will be subtle but accumulate over a span of time,” Procopio said. “But one point I guess I would have to make it that it has always been the trend for political parties to gain and lose popularity. I think the real issue posed of the Libertarian party is to overcome all the obstacles that were placed by the Republican and Democratic parties, such as ballot access and the electoral college.”The Libertarian party plans on having candidates on next year’s ballot. On Nov. 8, the Libertarians filed petitions with the Secretary of State’s Election Division containing more that 72,000 signatures who want to see the Libertarian party on the ballot as an official political party.While this exceeds the state’s requirements for creating a political party, the party does not agree with the measures that must be taken to become one.”We are pleased to announce that we have met and far exceeded the State of Ohio’s requirements for creating a political party,” said Dena Bruedigam, chair of the Libertarian party in Ohio, in a released statement. “However, we protest these stringent requirements and respectfully request the state to begin to reduce and eliminate them.”She added that only four groups have been able to meet the state’s ballot access requirementThe OSU chapter is the first in the nation.