Students express political opinions in Crossfire Debate

As election day approaches, political-minded students on campus are preparing to vote and are expressing their opinions on political race. On Monday, students gathered in the UC for the SAC Crossfire Debate to debate contemporary issues concerning the presidency. Although it was a light showing, consisting of mainly Political Science majors, there was nothing light about the discussion.

Questions and answers circulated the room, and students were well-informed judging by their participation and by the fact that there was a clear understanding in the room of the flaws in each of the candidates.

There were several good questions, including, “Do you think the general populace is misinformed about the candidates?” From this, there seemed to be a consensus that there is significant bias in the media. Many news sources skew their data in a light that is influenced by their revenue resources. For example, the top donor for both the Republican and Democrat party is Goldman Sachs. One important message to take from this is to be sure to validate your information from credible sources.

Furthermore, there are other issues at hand that the candidates must deal with, such as hot press topics: abortion, gay marriage, education and fiscal and foreign policies. Most participants would testify that each of the candidates need to get their stories straight and prioritize their agendas.

One student framed the situation quite well: If the country was a car, the candidates would be in the front seat directing the car. Only thing is, the car is speeding at 100 mph towards a brick wall. And instead of the candidates focusing on how to turn this country around, they are more focused on what is the best radio station to play in order to please their constituents in the back seat– the people.

From this debate, the students learned how to be active in their political voice, not sitting idly by in the backseat, but getting up and letting their voice by heard by educating themselves.