John Fournier isn't spending this weekend roaming the streets of East Lansing for a house party. He's traveling with friends more than 500 miles to Iowa for a political party.

Fournier, along with nine other members of Students for Dean, left Thursday for Marshalltown, Iowa, to attend today's Iowa caucus.

"I packed five minutes ago - I grabbed a bag and threw stuff in it," Fournier, a political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore, said Thursday evening as the group was leaving. "This is a very college thing to do, so I'm doing it the college way."

The students carpooled to Iowa, and the money for the trip is out of their own pockets. Once the students reach the Hawkeye state, they'll meet up with other Dean supporters from the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University and Wayne State University.

In Iowa, the students will go to work promoting Democratic presidential candidate and former Vermont governor Howard Dean at the caucus and at a Democratic support rally.

"I'm very excited because I think we'll meet Howard Dean," social relations junior Ann Thompson said. "The whole process is something to say, 'I was there.'"

A group of students supporting another candidate, U.S. Sen. John Edwards, of North Carolina, also will be traveling to Iowa for the first Democratic caucus for the 2004 presidential race.

Dan Buttrey, coordinator for Students for John Edwards, has been working for the Edwards campaign since April.

In Iowa, Buttrey said the students will go door-to-door to inform more people about Edwards' campaign and policies.

"I really want to see him advance and win," the political theory and constitutional democracy senior said. "I think his education policies are really good, and he has a good tax and foreign policy."

The Edwards group of eight is taking a van to Iowa, which was provided by the Edwards campaign. Both Students for John Edwards and Students for Dean will be provided housing in Iowa. They will stay with host families who are Edwards and Dean supporters.

In Iowa, the caucus is run differently than any other state, and attendance of voters is crucial for candidates.

"It is completely different from anything in Michigan." said Heather Ricketts, a member of Students for Dean. "They just lock everyone in the room and you go and stand under the sign of the person you want to vote for."

After the first vote, if a candidate doesn't get 15 percent of votes, his or her supporters are able to cast a second vote for a different candidate.

"It's cool to stand up and commit yourself and be seen," she said. "It shows the responsibility in politics."

Daren Berringer, Michigan coordinator for the Dean campaign, said the students will get a well-rounded experience in high-intensity campaigning.

"They will be doing everything from knocking on doors to making phone calls or staging events," Berringer said. "They will make sure people have rides to the caucus site and some of them will be baby-sitting so parents can go vote."

Tim Phelps, the first vice chairman for the MSU College Republicans, said the group is starting to prepare for the results of the Michigan Democratic caucus. They will hold a mass voter registration and events around campus to support President Bush, he said.

Phelps said that, in the past, he thinks the College Republicans have had groups go to primaries and caucuses.

"I could say that, if we were running in a primary right now, I would go to Iowa." he said.

Berringer said the student volunteers are vital for the edge in Iowa, especially since it looks to be a very close race.

"There is no doubt that volunteers' time is money," he said. "They are giving so much of themselves through this.

"It's all them giving every last bit of energy to make sure we win Iowa."