Democrat & Chronicle: RIT students act the part in a mock debate
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February 1, 2008
RIT students act the part in a mock debate
Jill Terreri
Staff writer
The remaining presidential candidates probably didn't know it, but some enthusiastic college students spoke out on their behalf Thursday
during a mock debate.
The students traded opinions on the war in Iraq, health care, immigration and America's dependence on foreign oil with each other and with
Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel, who debated on behalf of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., during former Mayor William Johnson's
public policy class at Rochester Institute of Technology.
The students gave impassioned responses and seemed to have done their research. They could have fooled the audience into thinking that
they actually supported the candidates whose policies they seemed to know so well.
But with the exception of Frankel and University of Rochester student John Pellito, who supports Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the rest of the
debaters were asked to participate because of their involvement with the nonpartisan RIT Debate Society or their general political
involvement on campus.
Kevin Tierney, who studies computer programming and put forth the positions of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, told the audience that
he was not going to tell the class whom he was planning to vote for but he could say with certainty it was not Romney.
Debater Chris Tosswill, who espoused the viewpoints of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, warned: "The RIT Debate Society is
representing these characters. We do not necessarily endorse them."
Taking a cue from a pseudo-conservative talk show host who appears on a pseudo-news show and has professed his preference for
Huckabee, Tosswill said: "If he's good enough for Stephen Colbert, he's good enough for me."
Pellito, who is an Obama supporter on and off the debating stage, defended his candidate's position on immigration, saying that it's not
practical to deport an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, but they must be given a path to citizenship and employers must be held
accountable if they hire workers who are here illegally.
Pat Ryan, of the campus debate organization, put forth a more stringent immigration plan, and said his candidate, Sen. John McCain, would
like a border fence.
As long as the United States has a porous border, employers will be more likely to hire illegal immigrants, Ryan said.
The class was slow to ask questions of the candidates' surrogates in the beginning, but before long the debate moderators were imposing
time limits on the responses.
The students were interested in health care, the economy, immigration, the federal No Child Left Behind law and the ways candidates
financed their campaigns.
Frankel, who was asked to participate because she is a Clinton supporter, said she enjoyed the debate and encouraged the students to
become involved in public service.
She also plugged her favorite candidate, telling them that Clinton has visited the college five times.
"When she's in the White House, she'll remember RIT."
JTERRERI@DemocratandChronicle.com
2/8/2008 1:00 PM
Democrat & Chronicle: RIT students act the part in a mock debate
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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200...
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