Education class engages in election debate

In the spirit of this year's presidential election, education building room 1006 was full of energy Thursday morning.\nStudents in E300, "Elementary Education in a Pluralistic Society," prepared to debate social issues from the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian party platforms. Groups within each party -- with the exception of the Libertarian party, who had only one group -- presented issues about education, civil rights, childcare and the Supreme Court. \nBefore the students spoke, graduate student Christy Kendrick encouraged her class to hold its applause until the end.\n"No booing, eye rolling, hissing or obscene gestures either," she added.\nKendrick said she wanted the main focus of the assignment to be on the issues, not on partisan biases.\nEach side was given two minutes to speak, a one minute planning break and an additional two minutes to rebut the opposition's argument.\nSophomore Natalie Rhodes got to class early to review her notes and prepare. She researched Bush's stance on childcare.\n"I liked trying to find things on Al Gore that were weak to his campaign," she said. \nDebating for the vice president's childcare plan, junior Alyssa Gavin said she chose to represent Gore because of his strong tax plan. \nThe Republican side emphasized Bush's plan to improve the quality of education and to narrow the learning gap. The debaters argued for local control and vouchers. \nOn the issue of childcare, Bush supporters stressed the importance of after school programs. The group argued the benefits of having activities to keep kids safe, occupied and off the street during prime juvenile crime hours.\n They also favored his "affirmative access" plan to avoid quotas and eliminate affirmative action, opposed same sex marriages and supported the discretion of local police to control hate crimes. \n The party said the selection of Supreme Court justices will be a crucial issue in the election. As many as four seats on the bench might be selected by the next president.\n The Libertarian party argued against government control. The brochure they passed around the classroom said "Government doesn't work." \n They said anyone should be allowed to marry, and the republican stance on same-sex marriages was "so ridiculous." \nThe third party also argued against the FDA, governmental involvement in health care and schooling policies.\nDemocrats attacked Bush's education plan. The group mentioned smaller class size, higher teacher salaries and Internet connections in schools. They said parents are crucial to a good education and claimed to have a more specific plan than their GOP rivals.\nThe Democrats also argued that "tolerating" gays was not enough. They said Gore thinks a gay union should be legal, opposes the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and continues to support affirmative action.\n'I thought it was good to have this debate now, so people will be able to vote knowing the information they heard about in class," Rhodes said.\nKendrick said she was also pleased with the assignment.\n"I was impressed at the students' ability to objectively look at the platforms and argue the points of the issues presented"