On Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ETSU will take part in Presidential Debate Watch, a videoconference discussion between various campuses throughout Tennessee.
The second-to-last presidential debate will take place at Belmont University in Nashville, and ETSU students will gather in the Brown Hall auditorium (the science building next to the Mini-Dome) to watch the televised event live, then get a chance to discuss it with students from other colleges and universities.
The debate will be moderated by Tom Brokaw of NBC in the format of a town hall meeting. Brokaw will ask questions of his own as well as those e-mailed to him, then call on members of the audience for theirs. At both Belmont and ETSU, the audience will not be limited to students, but include members of the community.
Various efforts have been made by organizations on campus to get the word out about this debate through flyers, e-mails, and faculty contacts. Some students may even receive extra credit in their classes for attending.
As young people become more involved in this election, programs like this one are becoming very important because the opinions of new voters are being taken into account by the media. This is also evident by The New York Times interest in student opinions through their caucus involving campus newspaper editors, including the East Tennessean.
The debate will begin at 9 p.m. and last 90 minutes. Afterward, the television will be turned off and students will discuss what was said. This discussion will be lead by Jeff Howard, the assistant director of Adult Commuter and Transfer Students and ETSU political science graduate.
Students will collectively prepare statements that they wish to share with other campuses participating in this event. Those taking part are the Universities of Tennessee at Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin, as well as Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis and ETSU.
Dr. Deborah Harley, assistant vice president of the Community Engagement Learning and Leadership, has been organizing the event and looks forward to seeing how students will respond to the debate. She wants to allow students time to discuss whatever they want about this debate, saying “Our commitment is to be there as long as they want to talk about the issues.”
She also said that each campus will be assigned a specific topic to center their statements around. Appropriately, ETSU students have been chosen to share what they consider important about health care, which is a major issue in this election. Students are encouraged to come prepared to the debate ready to comment to the rest of the state what they think about health care.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, pledges to make health care more affordable to all, while making sure to keep it within the sphere of the free market. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama emphasizes the need for mandatory health care for children, and eventual universal health care, again by keeping costs down.
ETSU is an expanding university when it comes to degrees and programs in health care and is now provided with a unique opportunity to share opinions with others.
The Gallup Organization will be picking the audience watching the debate in person and asking questions, so it is unlikely that they will be one sided, even though Tennessee is considered a firmly republican state. Likewise, those throughout the state participating in this video conference discussion should represent a broad range of the political spectrum.

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