Special Sections: TCU Daily Skiff for Thursday, November 02, 2000

Students participate in political forum
Bollege Republicans, Leftist Student Union debate topics from presidential campaign

By Hemi Ahluwalia
Staff reporter

Heated debate ignited over several national issues Wednesday night during a student-organized political forum held in the Student Center Lounge.

About 20 students from the Leftist Student Union and TCU College Republicans attended the forum, hosted by the College Republicans, to discuss presidential campaign issues like minimum wage, quality of education and religion in schools.

Participants in the debate said events like this are important because it gives students a chance to take an active role in the political process.

“The original Greek meaning of the word idiot is someone who does not participate in politics,” said Chris Dobson, a senior political science and history major.

LSU members highlighted the 10 key values that Ralph Nader, the Green Party presidential candidate, stands for in this year’s election.

“We want there to be a living wage that is available to all people,” said Crista Williams, a senior psychology major and LSU member. “Everyone who works at a job should be allowed to live above the poverty level.”

Riggs Rylander, a senior political science major and member of College Republicans, worries that a living wage set at $10 an hour would cost consumers more money.

“If the minimum wage is hiked up too far it will end up cutting into businesses’ profits and therefore have a trickle down effect on the consumer,” Rylander said.

Tara Pope, an alumna and former member of LSU, said there are ways to keep the extra costs from having a direct effect on the consumer.

“CEO wages are currently skyrocketing and if the money was taken out of their pockets then it would not affect the consumer,” she said.

On the topic of education, Christa Baker, a senior biology major, said more money should be spent to educate the American people.

“When the level of education rises, people become more responsible for their own actions,” said Baker, a College Republican member.

The debate on the quality of education wasn’t the only education issue to come under fire. Religion in schools was also a hot topic during the forum.

Dobson, a LSU member, said religion should be kept out of public schools.

“When children go to school, they should be able to obtain an education in a religious-neutral environment,” Dobson said. “Parents can teach religious values at home, but it should be kept out of the school system.”

Kelly Howard, College Republicans president, said she thinks all schools should offer a moment of silence every day to let students reflect in their own way.

“I have read that students who were given the opportunity to take part in a moment of silence were calmer throughout the day,” she said.

After the forum ended, students gathered together in small groups to continue discussing the issues.

“It was great to be able to exchange ideas with a group of different people and to have a chance to hear what they had to say,” Dobson said.

Members of both organizations wish more people would have attended the forum to express their ideas, Howard said.

“This forum was very intellectually stimulating, and we will definitely do it again next semester,” she said.

Hemi Ahluwalia
hemia@hotmail.com.

The Issues	Pat Buchanan	George W. Bush	Al Gore	Ralph Nader
Abortion about 23 percent of U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. The abortion rate is now at a two-decade low, due largely to more effective contraception. Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on abortion:	Opposes abortion rights. Favors passage of the Human Life Amendment and a bill conferring Constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children. Has vowed to cut funding to members of the Òabortion industry,Ó from Planned Parenthood to fetal tissue researchers. Has promised to appoint only pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.	Opposes abortion rights with exceptions for rape, incest and situations where a motherÕs life is in danger. Opposes federal funding of abortion. Supports a ban on partial-birth abortions. Favors parental notification laws and efforts to increase adoption. Does not consider a pro-life stance a criterion for selecting Supreme Court justices. Would not make anti-abortion constitutional amendment a priority.	Supports abortion rights. Has said abortion should be made Òsafe, legal and rare.Ó As a senator, supported federally-funded family planning clinics and pregnancy counseling programs. Supports Medicaid abortion financing despite past statements to the contrary. Does not consider a pro-life stance a criterion for selecting Supreme Court justices.	Supports abortion rights. Nader campaign manager Theresa Amato said, ÒRalph Nader has said over and over again that for American women, the right to a safe, affordable and legal abortion is a legal right, and that the government has no business telling a woman to have or not to have a child.Ó
Affirmative Action In an example of federal affirmative action, large contractors supplying the government must have programs encouraging them to rectify imbalances if they employ Òfewer minorities or women in a particular job group than would reasonably be expected by their availability.Ó Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on affirmative action:	Opposes. ÒNo set asides, no forced busing, no mandatory hiring, no affirmative action.Ó	Opposes quotas and racial preferences. Supports Texas law requiring public universities to admit the top 10 percent of every high schoolÕs graduating class.	Al Gore (Democrat) Supports. Wants to Òmend it, not end it.Ó Believes affirmative action programs should be carefully targeted, fair and meet legal requirements.	Supports. Feels affirmative action in higher education has numerous positive effects, leading to healthier and stronger communities.
Education Most national polls show education as the number one concern in America. In a Harris poll taken over the summer, respondents put education ahead of taxes, crime, health care, and Social Security as the most important issue for public officials to address. Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on education:	Would eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, and return its functions to state and local control. In general, would Òpreserve our heritage by passing on to our children, through locally controlled education, a love of our land, our history, our English language, and our traditional sense of right and wrong.Ó He supports special tax-free savings accounts to help parents pay education costs. He also favors a constitutional amendment to allow school prayer and rejects bilingualism and ÒmulticulturalÓ curricula that Òdenigrate our history.Ó Opposes national testing and national teaching standards.	Would give state and local governments more control over education, including curriculum, disciplining students and punishing juvenile offenders. Would also give states much more discretion over how they spend federal dollars, to create financial incentives for states to improve student performance. Says students should be tested yearly in reading and math, and that federal aid should reflect the results. Has proposed a Charter School Homestead Fund with $3 billion in loan guarantees to help launch 2,000 new charter schools.	Calls for smaller classes, higher standards and Òa renewed focus on discipline, character and the right valuesÓ in schools. Has proposed hiring 2.2 million new teachers, in part by offering $10,000 towards the college expenses of qualified students who agree to teach in a public school for at least four years following graduation. Has proposed a National Tuition Savings program that would allow families to set up tax-free accounts to help pay for their childrenÕs college tuition. He has proposed a similar program to help pay for Òlifetime learningÓ by adults. Calls for every classroom and library to be connected to the Internet. Opposes school voucher programs.	Believes the government should keep commercialism and voucher programs out of schools and not impose mandates on schools. Believes Head Start programs should be established as an entitlement. Supports a classroom target size of 15 for elementary schools and 20 for secondary schools. Believes the federal government should allocate money to hire more teachers and build new facilities.
Environment The United States dwarfs other industrialized nations in energy consumption and per-capita emissions of carbon dioxide. Overall U.S. air quality has improved in the last 10 years, with declines in major pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and lead. Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on current environmental issues:	Prefers private land preservation efforts over federal regulation. Would require Congress to vote on all endangered species and to compensate property owners whose lands are converted into protected habitats. Would abolish the Bureau of Land Management and give back to the states the 500 million acres of lands the organization oversees. Opposes international environmental accords, such as the Kyoto Treaty on global warming, which he believes hurts American industry.	Opposes an unratified treaty to cut greenhouse gases. Opposes federally funded environmental mandates, preferring that environmental issues be handled at the local level. Has said state environmental regulations shouldnÕt be stricter than federal law. Would provide funding for recycling programs and require full compensation when environmental regulations limit uses on private land. Wants Congress to amend the Endangered Species Act to limit habitats eligible to be declared endangered. Supports voluntary pollution clean-up efforts, such as offering incentives to industries that audit and reduce their pollution levels. Created unique voluntary programs in Texas to reduce air pollution at some 800 factories.	Long recognized as a leading supporter of environmental causes, particularly global warming research. Has pushed for an international greenhouse emissions treaty and helped win funding increases for research into efficient, renewable energy technologies. Wants to spend $2 billion over 10 years to set aside more parkland. Also proposes $1 billion in federal funds to help communities develop smart growth strategies. Wants to invest in mass transit and light rail to reduce pollution and congestion on the nationÕs highways and fight suburban sprawl.	Wants to phase out commercial nuclear reactors within five years and set a timetable for phasing out other dangerous nuclear technologies, nuclear-waste incinerators, food irradiation and all military and commercial uses of depleted uranium. Would abolish fossil fuel and nuclear corporate welfare supports, including numerous special tax preferences. Promotes higher fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards (at least to 45 miles a gallon for cars and 35 miles a gallon for light trucks, to be phased in over five years) during a transition period to zero-emissions cars. Would allow U.S. farmers to grow industrial hemp, which is now imported in modest amounts but canÕt be grown here. Would require existing paper mills that use chlorine bleaching to adopt new technologies.
Gun Control It is estimated that between 65 million and 80 million Americans own between 200 million and 225 million firearms. Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on gun control:	Supports the right to own guns. Would deny convicted felons the right to own firearms.	Wants to enforce existing gun laws, but would raise the age for handgun purchases to 21 and ban large ammunition clips. Supports instant background checks at gun shows. Opposes universal gun registration. Believes the best gun control measure is to prosecute those who illegally sell guns, those who illegally carry guns and those who illegally commit crimes with guns. Has proposed making federal gun prosecutions a top priority.	Wants mandatory licenses for handgun buyers. Would require manufacturers and federally licensed sellers to report gun sales to a state authority to help trace guns used to commit crimes. Supports banning ÒSaturday night specials.Ó Supports raising the age for handgun ownership from 18 to 21, restrict purchases at gun shows and limit handgun purchases to one per person per month.	Believes weapons should be designed with trigger locks. Promotes law enforcement to prevent criminals from obtaining weapons. Supports gun licenses and banning certain weapons.
Social Security Experts agree that the nationÕs Social Security system needs reform in order to survive the next generationÕs coming of age. Here are the positions of the major presidential candidates on Social Security:	Favors allowing the elderly to make their own health care decisions by investing in their own health insurance or building their own personal retirement accounts.	Pledges no reduction in benefits for retirees. Will veto any increase in corporate or income tax. Supports Education Savings Accounts by allowing parents to increase contributions for each student and withdraw funds tax-free to pay for educational expenses. Supports partial privatization of Social Security by allowing participants to invest 2 percent of their payroll taxes in the stock market.	Does not support privatization or diversion of funds away from Social Security. He does not favor raising the age limit. Supports using $2.2 trillion of the Social Security surplus to shore up the program and decrease the debt, thus saving billions of dollars in interest, which can be redirected to ensuring the solvency of the Social Security trust fund until at least 2050. Supports the creation of ÒRetirement Savings Plus Accounts,Ó maintained by private financial institutions. The accounts would operate similar to traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, but would allow for tax deductible contributions of up to $2,000 annually.	Favors gradual changes to benefits and the revenue structure of current Social Security legislation. Favors raising the income cap on Social Security taxes or expanding the tax to cover executive bonuses and stock options to adjust the benefit formula for widows and widowers. Opposes privatization.
Taxation Federal income taxes range from 15 percent to 39.6 percent depending on income, with most Americans taxed at 28 percent or less. The per-person cost of all federal taxes combined is estimated at $7,026, up from $4,646 in 1980. Here is how the candidates would change the current tax system:	As Republican candidate, favored a 16 percent flat income tax on earnings over $35,000 and deep cuts in inheritance and small-business taxes, but retains taxes for charitable donations and mortgage interest. Tax cuts would be paid for in part with higher tariffs.	His $1.3 trillion, 10-year package would gradually reduce all income tax rates by 2006. Income is now taxed at five levels: 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. Bush would simplify and reduce these to 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. He has also proposed doubling the $500 per-child tax credit and raising the income cap from $110,000 for a married couple filing jointly to $200,000. BushÕs plan would reduce the marriage penalty paid by many two-income couples by allowing a deduction of 10 percent of the lower-earning spouseÕs salary, up to $30,000. He would gradually repeal the estate tax over eight years, and make permanent the research and development tax credit that Congress recently extended for five years. He would raise from $500 to $5,000 the amount that can be deposited in a tax-free education savings account and expand the accounts to include kindergarten through 12th grade.	His $500 billion, 10-year package would raise standard deduction for married couples to ease the marriage penalty for those who do not itemize deductions. It would provide a $3,000 tax credit to help with the costs of long-term health care for a disabled or elderly relative and create new tax-free retirement savings accounts that would be matched by the government. GoreÕs plan also allows a tax deduction or a 28 percent tax credit on up to $10,000 in tuition for college or other postsecondary education. It permits a 25 percent per-employee tax credit for small businesses that join purchasing pools to provide health insurance and creates a tax credit for up to 50 percent of after-school program expenses for children age 16 and under. It also contains tax breaks for school construction, worker training, low-income housing, land conservation, energy efficiency and stay-at-home parents.	Favors progressive taxation. Believes the richer people are, the more the percentage they should pay. Supports taxing stock market speculation and pollution and lightening the taxes on food and labor.

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