The Sophomore Class Council hosted a Mock Presidential Debate in the University Center’s Main Lounge Tuesday night in front of about 50 students to promote awareness of the candidates and issues and the impact of the vote.
“The only way students can empower themselves is through knowledge,” Sophomore Class Council President Sheena Collum said. “A mock debate enables students to see what presidential candidate best suits their needs and beliefs so that we can make an educated decision in November.”
The debate started off with a short speech from Clay Constantinou, dean of the school of Diplomacy and International Relations, who provided insight on the process of running for president.
He explained that candidates are usually a governor or a senator before they decide to run for president and stressed the importance of raising money.
Representing President George W. Bush was Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll and representing Senator John Kerry was student Michael Shapiro.
Commentary was provided by students John-Paul Yates and Michael Chen, as well as professors Deborah Ward and Joseph Marbach from the political science department.
Each candidate had a maximum time of two minutes to answer a question about a specific issue and one minute to rebut.
The first issue that was brought to the candidates’ attention was the war in Iraq. Carroll, as Bush, defended the war in Iraq, citing the liberation of thousands of people and the capturing of Saddam Hussein.
Shapiro, representing Kerry, tore apart the Republicans by questioning the purpose for America’s presence in Iraq.
“We definitely rushed into the war,” he said. “The weapons of mass destruction have not been found, and over 600 Americans have died, with 4000 Americans severely injured.”
The second issue was the war on terrorism.
Carroll as Bush said Osama bin Laden has been on the run since 9-11 and other nations such as Libya and Pakistan have been ridded of terrorism.
Kerry’s team pointed to the recent attack in Madrid to prove terrorism is still prevalent in the world. The team also suggested the Bush administration is too focused on Iraq to deal with terrorism.
Education was also an important issue brought to the attention of the candidates. Both candidates were asked to comment on the “No Child Left Behind” policy Bush has stood behind.
The Bush team emphasized the benefits of the policy, saying it holds more teachers accountable for knowing the subject matter and being able to teach it. It also holds students accountable for the subject matter by making them pass tests.
The Kerry team focused on the policy’s shortcomings, citing teachers are instructing to a test instead of teaching necessary life and social skills that should be taught at school.
Other issues that were debated were the Patriot Act and domestic issues such as the economy and gay marriage.
To improve the economy, the Kerry team said it would create 500,000 jobs by focusing on fuels and energies used to run cars and heat homes. Kerry also proposed to keep the Bush tax cuts, except for those Americans who make $200,000 per year.
The Bush team cited the stock market has been up 20 percent in the last year and took shots at Kerry’s plan for the economy, saying Kerry must break promises or increase taxes to turn a profit.
Students who attended the debate were able to ask questions after each issue was debated. They could direct their questions to a candidate or a political commentator. Students found this to be an important part of the debate.
Freshman College Republican Nicole Rachel found the debate to be fascinating.
“Both sides provided very interesting and enlightening sides to issues that will definitely be hot spots in the upcoming election in November,” she said.
While the debate awakened students to the important issues facing candidates in the upcoming election, some students’ minds were made up already.
“It was interesting to hear the arguments for Kerry, but I’m still a staunch Republican,” freshman Chelsea Dodd said.
According to Treasurer of the College Democrats Camilo Forero, the Mock
Debate was a great success.
“All the speakers provided thoughtful answers that hopefully helped to educate the students on who their choices are for president in November,” he said.
Andrew Testa can be reached at testaand@shu.edu.
|