Associated Press
10-05-06
ISU to hold presidential science-tech debates
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iowa State University is organizing two presidential forums to be held on campus
next year, two months before Iowa’s precinct caucuses open the presidential
nominating season.
The forums will invite presidential candidates from both parties and focus
primarily on technology and its impact on America’s economy, according to Iowa
State President Gregory Geoffroy.
One party is scheduled to hold a forum Nov. 6, 2007, in Stephens Auditorium.
The other party will hold the stage the next day, officials said.
The university plans to officially announce the forums in November following the
midterm elections, although Geoffroy insists the events have not been finalized.
“We are going to work hard to make them happen, but there are a lot of things
that we don’t control on this,” he said.
Jon Murphy, ISU’s director of federal government relations, said the focus
on science and the timing of the forums — before Iowa’s caucuses — should
also help attract some major candidates from both parties.
“We think that those candidates who want to compete in the state of Iowa will
look at these presidential candidate forums as a great opportunity,” Murphy said.