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October 12, 2004
Political events influence student views
Leilani Sesate
Mesa Legend
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Photo by Desiree McDonald Mesa Legend |
| Michael Man (left), secretary of MCC Democrats Club, and member, Dennis MacIntyre (right), look on as a student registers to vote. |
For those interested in politics and where the United States is headed in the future, two exciting events took place on Thursday September 30. The first was the Center for Global Tolerance and Engagement Conference. The other was NBC’s news coverage of voter registration and students’ perspectives regarding the presidential debates.
The forum on America’s involvement in the United Nations was presented by the Center for Global Tolerance and Engagement, a non-profit organization formed by the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at MCC. This organization has held many lectures and discussions about terrorism, religion and the media. Faculty members volunteer their time to recruit speakers and also participate in events.
Dr. David Yount participated in the Forum on Thursday along with Lynn Alred, a member of United Families International, a chartered organization with credentials to participate in discussions with the UN. Facilitated by MCC professor Brian Dille, Dr. Yount and Lynn Alred debated whether or not the U.S. should remain in the United Nations.
Alred spoke against the UN’s involvement with the sexual education of children, treatment of women, and family values as affected by UN policies. Alred argued against legalized prostitution and mentioned that pamphlets proliferating the issue were influenced by UN involvement. She didn’t believe that UN policies should dictate to the United States. In her closing statements, she said that if the UN could use peace as a vehicle to affect positive change, “Go for it,” but also reminded the audience that she is not opposed to U.S. withdrawal from the UN.
The following speaker, Dr. David Yount, stated that his position was to remain in the UN. His commentary was focused on the positive work done by the UN which continues to benefit all countries. He also stated that the critics of the UN don’t have a better alternative for conducting a global organization. He spoke of the food programs, health organizations and economic indicators overseen by the UN that benefit and inform all nations. Yount used Lynn Alred’s comments about her organizations’ involvement with the UN to show that even those who are opposed to the UN benefit from its efforts.
Following the opening arguments, the floor was made open for questions. In an interview with Dr. Yount, Chair of Philosophy and Religious Studies at MCC, Dr. Yount said he was hoping for a more spirited debate because he truly believes that the United States should remain in the UN, essentially to have a say in creating laws, especially considering the U.S. has veto power.
The U.N. conference was only one of several events that took place on that day. Mike Morsure, who works with Tom Brokaw and NBC News, was on campus asking students to share their opinions regarding the presidential candidates. Morsure was here to do a story about the vote in Arizona; he explained that since AZ is a swing state, both the Democrats and Republicans want the vote. NBC News will not be visiting any other community college campuses in Arizona, but they will be covering the vice-presidential debates at ASU.
Morsure explained that MCC is populated with new veterans and Latinos, both of whose votes could have a major effect on the presidential election.
Morsure and his staff toured the campus before the debate and questioned undecided voters. After watching the televised debate in the Kirk Center, Mike Morsure walked around campus again, asking students if their vote was affected by what the candidates said. Some individuals remained undecided while others felt more justified in their choice. Mr. Morsure also had a chance to view students promoting voter registration. There was a table with registration applications available in the Kirk Center, but the real action occurred outside the building where students for the Kerry/Edwards camp displayed signs in support of the Democratic party. Student Mike Martin said that he “wants everyone to vote,” and attempted to persuade students into participating regardless of their political leanings.
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