Mike Inganamort, president of the AU College Republicans, and Greg Wasserstrom, president of the AU College Democrats, may seem like completely different people, but they do have one very important thing in common: a birthday.
Both student leaders were born on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day. Inganamort, who turns 21 today, is a junior in the School of Public Affairs.
"My birthday was never a really big deal, but as a kid I got a lot of Valentine's," Inganamort said. "The only bad aspect of my birthday was that everyone would be out with their dates for Valentine's Day and I would be home with my parents."
The one exception was during senior year of high school, when he and his girlfriend went out and enjoyed Valentine's Day together and he celebrated with his family the previous night.
Wasserstrom, a sophomore in SPA and the School of International Service, turns 20 today.
He said he didn't have much of a problem with his birthday coinciding with Valentine's Day.
"In the years I've had no special person to share the day with, like this year, I like to make the day about me, which usually is every other day too," he joked.
He is proud to share his birthday with such famous people as President Abraham Lincoln, teamster Jimmy Hoffa and actress Florence Henderson, of Mrs. Brady fame.
| FUN FACTS ABOUT: | MIKE | GREG |
| BIRTHPLACE | Englewood, N.J. | Washington, D.C. (He moved to Houston at age four) |
| FAVORITE COLOR | Green | "Pink ... I'm a big fan of that color." |
| BEST BIRTHDAY | "The year I turned 12 when I went to Lake Placid, N.Y., to go bobsledding." | "Definitely my fifth birthday. ... It was an African-themed party at a children's museum where we learned about African culture." |
| WORST BIRTHDAY | "When I turned 10 I was supposed to go to Medieval Times with my family and we got snowed in." | "My worst birthday was my 16th. ... I expected a car, but my dad, with his masochistic sense of humor, gave me remote-control car." Wasserstrom describes it as a traumatic birthday that had long-lasting effects on his well-being. |
| BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT |
His Donald Trump doll that says motivational phrases such as "Stay focused." | His dog, Waldo, which he got on his ninth birthday. Waldo is still alive to this day, although he has only three working legs, Wasserstrom said. |
| FAVORITE FOOD | "Pasta ... yeah, I'm a pasta kind of guy." | Sushi |
| IF YOU WERE TO EAT DINNER WITH ONE PERSON, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE? | Ronald Reagan | "Ghandi, because I can learn a lot about how to liberate people from him." |
| FAVORITE SEASON | Spring | Spring |
| CUTEST REPUBLICAN COUPLE / FAVORITE DEMOCRATIC COUPLE | George W. and Laura Bush | Bill and Monica |
| FAVORITE KIND OF CAKE | Ice cream cake | Chocolate mousse cake |
| IF YOU WERE TO START A ROCK BAND, WHAT WOULD YOU NAME IT? | "I still have a few more years before I become a rock star." | Joey Freedom and the Sandinistas |
| FANTASY POLITICAL VALENTINE | Condoleezza Rice | "Barbara Boxer, because she's shown a large amount of fortitude in the Senate lately." |
| MAN CRUSH | [Jokingly] "That's against my platform." | Barack Obama |
| HOW DID YOU FEEL THE EXACT MOMENT BUSH WON HIS RE-ELECTION? | "I was elated." | "Extreme crushing defeat followed by encouragement because we have four more years to organize a Democratic movement." |
| FELLOW REPUBLICAN / DEMOCRAT BORN ON VALENTINE'S DAY | Mike Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City. | I can't think of any Democrats, so I'll do my favorite progressive leader ... that would be Frederick Douglass." |
