While giving a speech in that class about the profit he thought media giants like Michael Moore gained from certain depictions of George W. Bush, he was touted as a bigot by a fellow classmate.

“I was like, I’m brown like you!” said Fabian, a Filipino-American who had at one point been an intern for Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor at SF State.

Republican Nathaniel Cabrera doesn’t hide his views, but doesn’t volunteer them either.

“I usually keep my political views to myself unless someone asks me,” said Cabrera, a junior in biology, who was raised with conservative ideals and has been a registered Republican since he was 18 years old. “It’s not something I throw out there because it’s a very touchy subject for some people.”

While young GOP members might be intimidated into silence, Paul Murre, president of the College Democrats at SF State, attributed the lack of Republican visibility to student disinterest instead of an absence of student Republicans.

“There’s a lot of apathy going around. The big story isn’t so much of a lack of Republicans; it’s about a lack of interest in SFSU and lack of student involvement in politics,” Murre, a junior in political science, said.

McDaniel explained that most young people are politically apathetic.

“In general, college students are not that engaged in politics,” McDaniel said. “Even if you feel like there’s a lot of political activism, but they’re not voting, they may not have voted before.”

Dell Brooks, a registered independent and member of the Political Science Student Association, regularly acts as the conservative counterpoint during debates in his club, and viewed a viable Republican presence as opportunity for a vivacious exchange of ideas.

“I wish they were (here). It made for great debates,” Brooks said. “It was nice to have that conservative opinion, and that quid pro quo.”