College Dems, Reps face off for cameras

Penn's College Democrats and College Republicans squared off in their annual debate last night -- but this year, their audience stretches far beyond the boundaries of campus. The debate, aired on UTV13, will be shown on national cable by C-SPAN at a later date. This year's debate also had special significance because of the ongoing voter registration effort that will culminate Monday with a visit to Penn by MTV's "Choose or Lose" bus. Two panelists from each side alternated posing questions on a variety of topics discussed throughout the presidential campaign. The panelists included College Democrats President Adrienne Klembara, a College junior, and College Republicans Chairperson Tony Andreoli, a Wharton senior. The presidential candidates were each represented by four students, who took turns giving two-minute responses to the panelists' questions. To kick off the debate, College senior Michael Olsky, representing President Clinton, praised the president's record on crime. He noted that Clinton signed a crime bill that put 100,000 new police officers on the streets and supported the Brady Bill, which Olsky said has prevented 60,000 criminals from obtaining guns. Wharton sophomore Jason Auerbach, College Republicans treasurer, responded by noting that Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole supports block grants, which give states federal money to fight crime more effectively at the local level. The debators also addressed Dole's proposed 15 percent tax cut "Automatically, everyone in this country will be better off," Auerbach said. "People will have more money that they will spend and invest and the economy will grow." But College Democrats representatives countered, saying that Clinton cut the deficit in half and citing Clinton's economic plan, which offers more modest tax cuts and promises to balance the budget in seven years. When the debate turned to affirmative action, Engineering sophomore Michael Bressler said Dole favors leveling the educational playing field with a voucher proposal to allow middle- and lower-class families to send their kids to private and parochial schools. "Dole is committed to a color blind government and society," Bressler said. But College senior Christina Finello of the College Democrats said while the gap is closing, minorities still have a long way to go before they have equal opportunity. "Clinton sees the need for affirmative action -- not forever, but until the job is done," Finello said. The two sides also clashed on issues of defense. College and Wharton sophomore Jason Herman, a member of College Republicans, advocated Dole's anti-ballistic missiles program, which he said would "defend America from missile attack and protect American citizens." College sophomore Chad Pimentel, a member of College Democrats, praised Clinton for maintaining a strong military presence while cutting back on defense spending. "Clinton wants America to be respected as the world's greatest peacemaker, not feared as an international policeman," he said. At the end of the debate, each side had one minute to respond to audience questions, which ranged in topic from abortion to the environment to character issues. After the official program, Klembara deemed the debate a success, saying she hoped it helped to clarify some of the major campaign issues. "Hopefully it? contributed to voter registration by being on national television," she added. Andreoli commended the participants for being "very well prepared." "Our debators? hit the issues right on the head," he explained. "I hope we were able to sway people in the right direction, literally." College sophomore Joanna Conte, a member of College Republicans, said she was impressed by the debate. "Both sides did a good job adding a student perspective to the same rehashed issues," Conte said.