Debate Activities for Students

from Michelle Purdy
Student Union President
Washington University in St. Louis

On behalf of Student Union and the Student Activities Committee for Election 2000, I am proud to announce the confirmation of two dynamic programs for Tuesday, October 17 for the Washington University Community. Both of these events have been made possible with the help of Youth Vote 2000 and MTV's Choose or Lose.

Both events for the day will be open to the Washington University community. Persons entering both events will be required to show a Washington University ID for admission. We are extremely excited about these events and the opportunity to have our community engaged in activities for the Presidential Debates. For further information, please visit http://su.wustl.edu/election2000/ or feel free to contact me directly.

The first program, "Student Union's Meet the Press," from 12 noon-1:30 pm in the Gargoyle of Mallinckrodt Center will be a moderated panel discussion on what needs to be done to make politics more relevant to youth. We will also discuss and analyze what initiatives have been taken so far in the election to reach out to youth. This panel discussion will feature Bill Bulman, Opinion Editor of Student Life (Washington University's Independent Student-Run Newspaper); Diana Carlin, Director of DebateWatch 2000; Tamala Edwards, Youth and Politics Reporter for Time Magazine; Howard Fineman, Chief Political News Correspondent of Newsweek Magazine; and Gideon Yago, Street Team Reporter of MTV's Choose or Lose. Julia Cohen, Director of Youth Vote 2000, will moderate the program.

The second event for the day will be "Choose or Lose: The Official Student Union Debate Watch with MTV's Gideon Yago" in Edison Theatre. Beginning at 6 pm, the event will commence with a reception honoring the Undergraduate Political Science Association, the Graduate Professional Conference, and Youth Vote 2000. The event will begin at 7:30 pm with a short discussion with the audience regarding their expectations for the third Presidential Debate. Following the debate, Yago will moderate a discussion featuring a special Washington University student panel. The conversation will focus on reactions to the debates and the issues raised by both candidates. Serving as mistresses of ceremonies for the evening will be Holly Chen, Speaker of the Student Union Senate, and Harpreet Khera, Vice President for the Undergraduate Political Science Association.