Volunteers Help New York Host Republican Visitors

By Barbara Schoetzau

More than 20,000 people have applied¹ to fill 8,000 volunteer spots at the upcoming Republican National Convention in New York. The applicants² represent a remarkable³ cross-section of Americans: Republicans, Democrats⁵, Independents, and possibly a few anarchists⁶. The applicants are young, old and middle-aged⁷, students and executives, Americans and even some non-Americans.

New York officials want scenes of the city during the convention to dazzle television viewers. More importantly, off-screen, they want to hear cash registers ringing as delegates shop, sightsee and visit cultural institutions and theaters.

Months ago, the non-partisan⁸ New York City Host Committee launched a promotional campaign to encourage New Yorkers, who generally lean toward the Democratic Party, to warmly welcome the Republicans and to volunteer to work at city-sponsored convention events.

Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch, a Democrat⁴, appears in a television advertisement with an elephant, the Republican Party symbol.

"New York City, the greatest city in the world," says Koch in the ad. "No wonder the Republicans are coming here for their National Convention. While they're here, make nice, volunteer to show them the ropes. They won't know uptown from downtown. They've never ordered pizza by the slice and they don't know alternate side of the street parking. Hey you, move it. It's Tuesday."

"Be a part of it. Apply to volunteer online at nyc2004.org," concludes an announcer.

The number of people, some 20,000, who applied to work as volunteers astonished the staff at the New York City Host Committee. Deputy Operations Director Neil Jacoby says many of the volunteers are taking the week off from work.

"We have applications from every state in the country," he said. "Mostly from the tri-state area, but also from every state including Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska, Hawaii."

Neil Jacoby says the volunteers will help in every aspect of the convention, staffing events, greeting delegates when they arrive in the city and taking them for a night out at a Broadway show.

"It is like having your mother waiting for you at the gate," he said. "In this case it will be a volunteer. At every point forward from the commute⁹ into the city, arriving at the hotel, boarding a bus to go to Madison Square Garden, arriving at the Garden, there will be a volunteer there to greet them, provide them with information, assist them, direct them to where they have to go and just provide a familiar and friendly face."

Volunteer facilitators have registered hundreds of volunteers each night and trained them in half day sessions.

The volunteer pool represents an incredibly diverse cross-section of Americans from every age, economic and educational group. Partisan politics are prompting some like this senior citizen who says, "I want to help Bush get elected again. Absolutely."

But others, like accountant Maureen Walsh, say they could care less about politics.

"I am a native New Yorker and I thought that we would never see a Republican convention here again, or at least in my life time," she said. "So that was the reason why I decided¹⁰ to volunteer."

The volunteers are expected to put in three days of work. For facilitators, who have been interviewing potential volunteers, a much larger time commitment was required. It is worth the effort for a facilitator named Marella because she says it helps showcase New York.

"This is the first time that a Republican convention is coming to New York and it is an opportunity to help New York City gain more business like this," she said. "If this does sell, more people will come and spend money here, more people will enjoy the city. Many of the delegates who are attending have never even been to New York City before. So this is an opportunity on many different levels."

Sammy Abraham, a pharmacist from Egypt who hopes to become an American citizen, also wants to help his adopted city.

"It is good to help people, educate people on policies, let them know more, let them participate," he said. "That is pretty important. It is good to help a convention that is in the city you live at."

But Karen Kriegle, international relations student who is a native New Yorker, is more interested in the political process than promoting New York's image.

"I am a native New Yorker and I would like to see democracy in process," she said. "It is a unique opportunity. It does not matter what one's political party is. It is a matter of participating in the process. Everyone has a voice whether you agree with it or not."

Reflecting New York's ethnic¹¹ mix, 39 percent of the volunteers describe themselves as fluent in a language other than English. Men and women are evenly divided. And almost half of the volunteers are under age 30.

注释:
apply to 申请
volunteer 志愿者
upcoming 即将来临的
applicant 申请者
remarkable 不平常的
dazzle (使)眼花
non-partisan 无党派的
uptown 住宅区
downtown 商业区
session 会议
astonish 使惊讶
incredibly 不能相信地
diverse 变化多的
reflect 反映
ethnic 人种的

1 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

2 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 anarchists   

无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Anarchists demand the destruction of structures of oppression including the country itself. "无政府主义者要求摧毁包括国家本身在内的压迫人民的组织。
• Unsurprisingly, Ms Baburova had a soft spot for anarchists. 没什么奇怪的，巴布罗娃女士倾向于无政府主义。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

9 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。