College Democrats, GOPers square off in annual debate

Exactly 24 hours after polls closed nationwide for several mayoral and gubernatorial elections, the College Democrats and College Republicans staged their annual debate at Houston Hall last night before nearly two dozen political junkies. Described as "a chance for our groups to come together to share our views," according to College Dems spokesperson and College senior Lauren Fredendall, the clubs debated four issues in an informal atmosphere. Affirmative action, the death penalty, welfare and Sino-American relations were chosen as topics for the debate on the basis of their timeliness and importance. While each debate pitted a Democrat against a Republican, the speakers were not bound to give the party's line and many presented their own views. While College senior and College Dems President Aaron Well said the debate was a chance "to realize that in some places you aren't quite so far apart as you might think you were," the debaters often found no common ground. The audience, reflecting the divided ideologies, chose to sit by party, dividing itself into Republican and Democratic sections. The most divisive debate of the night was on affirmative action, with the speakers and the audience disagreeing over how to interpret facts such as lower minority test scores. The evening began with a debate on welfare pitting Wharton freshman Brian Godfrey, a Republican who called for reform, against College freshman Gina La Placa of the College Dems. La Placa agreed with Godfrey that the nation's welfare system is corrupt but cautioned that "if the welfare system is to be reformed, it must not be at the expense of the children." College freshman A. Campbell Austin, a College Rep, spoke out against overly close ties with China, which he nevertheless described as "a gold mine." But he warned that "we can't be blinded by our greed." College Dems in the audience greeted the response, delivered by Engineering freshman Beney Lee, with applause. The audience stayed involved throughout the debate, applauding speakers with their same views and asking a range of questions. "I thought it was an interesting debate and a healthy examination of ideas," College junior Karim Berube said after the debate. The president of each club moderated the event. Each speaker had three minutes to present views and another minute to rebut the opponent's arguments. The debaters then took a few questions from audience members selected by the moderators, who were careful to balance the affiliations of the questioners.