I was excited to learn that Vice President Gore, Senator Bradley, and possibly Governor Bush and Senator McCain are scheduled to attend a forum at Dartmouth.
As an avid political spectator, this event made me appreciate attending Dartmouth where students are sometimes afforded opportunities to see presidential candidates in person. These opportunities not only enable students to get a feel for what candidates are like outside of the news media, but they can increase awareness and foster debate on the candidates and the issues they raise. After all, I came to Dartmouth expecting to be in an intellectually stimulating environment and among students who take an active interest in world affairs and politics.
After four years at Dartmouth, I have gotten over my shock about how little the average student knows about world affairs or cares about politics. The workload of classes and activities makes it difficult to find time to read the newspaper or watch the news. I can hardly plead innocent to getting trapped inside the Dartmouth Bubble, with decreasing awareness of current events once midterms begin.
However, I also believe this is not entirely the fault of the students. When speakers and candidates come to campus only a small percentage of the student body can actually hear them speak. This makes it virtually impossible for these events to foster campus-wide debate.
For example, when Ralph Reed came to Dartmouth last year, he spoke in Cook Auditorium. I tried to attend, but the throngs of people hanging outside the doors prevented me from even catching a glimpse of Mr. Reed; although I was helpfully informed that I could sit in a wide selection of satellite rooms to view the speech on closed circuit TV. Gee, thanks. Are the event organizers to pretend that the crowds in the hallways and in satellite rooms could not have filled a larger venue such as Spaulding auditorium?
When I asked several friends if they wanted to come see the speech, they all declined on the reasoning that they would not be able to get in the door. Even if they could, they didn't want to show up an hour beforehand to get a seat. This experience was quite frustrating for myself and for anyone who had a desire to hear the debate incited by Mr. Reed. The same overcrowding of Cook occurred when Carl Sagan came to speak. Surely a lecture by Carl Sagan was worthy of catching the interest of more than the 341 local residents, faculty, and students that squeezed into seats in Cook.
Which brings me to my point. Surely more than a "select few from the college community" (The Dartmouth, 9/28/99) would be interested in seeing a debate between Bradley, Gore, Bush, McCain, Dole, Forbes, Keyes, and Buchanan? The forum is currently scheduled for Moore Theater, which has only 55 more seats than Cook. According to event organizer Linda Fowler, the forum is an "opportunity for Dartmouth to foster debate between candidates and voters in an open-ended forum," yet the entire crowd will be composed of New Hampshire residents with only a select few Dartmouth students attending.
I am genuinely amazed that these are the stated goals of the forum, yet no interested Dartmouth voters will be allowed to attend. Every major presidential candidate will make an appearance at Dartmouth and yet the students are considered second rate and unworthy of seeing the candidates in person.
I consider second rate a fair description, as students will be chosen by lottery to appear on stage behind the candidates, thus giving the impression that students were in attendance. After the forum, I will undoubtedly see clips of rapt Dartmouth students sitting behind the candidates while a CNN anchor comments on the forum at Dartmouth College.
Prospective students and the editors at U.S. News and World Report will indeed see the students behind the candidates and thus be given the impression, albeit mistakenly, that Dartmouth students were given a rare and historic opportunity to attend a forum with all of the 2000 presidential candidates. CNN will likely fail to mention that the "select few" students that were allowed to attend were prohibited from asking questions.
I am shocked that the College would ask these candidates to campus and yet give virtually no one a chance to attend. Not only is it insulting to the student body, but it is also insulting to the candidates who are trying to reach out to Dartmouth voters. I am frustrated by the amount of lip service the College pays to "fostering debate" without genuinely caring to do so.
If the college truly wants to foster debate and intellectually stimulate the Dartmouth Community, the presidential forum should be moved to Leede Arena, where more students than the token few in the showcase behind the candidates can participate in the democratic process.
