A debate between UW-Madison political groups Wednesday featured discussions on some of the most controversial social, political and economic issues in the United States.
The debate in Sellery Hall featured members of UW-Madison College Republicans, College Democrats, Campus Greens and Students for Nader.
President George W. Bush \values the sanctity of marriage being between one man and one woman,"" said Frank Harris, debate speaker for College Republicans.
""President Bush also supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage,"" said Liz Sanger, chair of College Democrats.
The proposed amendment is the only one in history that discriminates against U.S. citizens rather than extending their rights, Sanger said.
Ralph Nader is ""definitely pro-choice, and he wants access to safe and legal abortions,"" said Stephanie Jung, representative of Students for Nader. ""More women died with coat-hanger abortions ... than died in Vietnam.""
""If we're going to have corporations, we need to make them subservient to the public will,"" said Bill Anderson, representative of Campus Greens, regarding the U.S. economy and current budget deficit.
Other contested issues included universal health care, the USA Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the prospect of a military draft and the Iraq war.
""We all learned in kindergarten that we need to cooperate with our neighbors,"" Sanger said of the Iraq war. ""We're a global community and we need to cooperate with nations.""
The non-profit, non-partisan Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group sponsored the debate as part of the New Voters Project.
""We are working with the New Voters Project, but we're different because we're more educational,"" said Jordan Burghardt, student coordinator for the New Voters Project, regarding WisPIRG.
""Our mission with this event [was] to raise political awareness as to the issues and stances of the candidates and to establish another opportunity for people to register to vote,"" said Grant Wheeler, representative for WisPIRG.
""It was nice to get an informed view from people who are really into their candidates,"" said Jane Howard, representative for WisPIRG and UW-Madison media intern for the New Voters Project. ""I really got some in-depth views from people my age.""
