October 5 aftermath: When it's all debated and done
Debate day teach-ins offered for convo credit
Historian Schlesinger kicks off Distinguished Speaker series
Student Judiciary reports on previous year’s hearings
Danville residents ready for debate dynamics
Stacy Hoehle
Cento Writer
With newly painted buildings, road repairs, fresh landscaping and plenty of smiling, excited townspeople, the city of Danville has prepared extensively for the Vice Presidential Debate.
In regards to these projects by the state, county, college and community, Danville City Manager Steve Biven said, “Nothing was done that wouldn’t have been-–it was just pushed up on schedule.”
The state made an expensive improvement to the Danville-Boyle County Airport by adding lights necessary for night landings and the landings of larger aircrafts. The state also has worked to repave area roads and sidewalks.
Boyle County has worked to promote the Danville area to possible debate visitors. At the Kentucky State Fair in August, the Boyle County booth distributed leaflets about the area, Centre College and the debate. The enthusiastic staff provided recommendations for interested visitors about lodging and sites to see in Danville.
The debate has also been a source of stress for many in Danville. Biven said, “Overworked city employees are the main drawback to holding the debate here in Danville.” He recognized that many county employees, including county maintenance and police workers, have worked exceedingly hard to ensure a smooth running of the debate.
Also included in making sure that it goes smoothly are the special security provisions made by the Danville Police Department. The City Chief of Police would not comment due to secure nature of that information. However, much of the work has been in collaboration with the Secret Service.
Community businesses and individuals have also put great effort into the preparation. Numerous downtown businesses have had their storefronts repainted to help the city impress visitors.
Some businesses are already reaping benefits from the upcoming debate. Laurie DeWitt of the Danville Comfort Suites said that hotel reservations for the week are 20 percent above average.
Comfort Suites has been advertising over the Internet with an 800 number that interested individuals can call. “We’re also providing complementary Lexington Herald newspapers on Oct. 4, 5 and 6 to provide guests with debate news,” DeWitt said.
TJ’s Coffeehouse has also made special arrangements for debate week. Due to its close proximity to campus, the restaurant will see a great increase in traffic. Owner Tupper Hardman said, “We’ve ordered more food and coffee for the expected increase in customers. We’ll be open late–until 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday. There will also be special entertainment those nights.”
The efforts of individuals can be seen in numerous details throughout the town including the fire hydrants.
Centre students have volunteered time to decorate the hydrants, as have other townspeople. The bright ones lining Maple Avenue were painted by fourth and fifth grade art students from Edna L. Toliver Elementary School.
DecoArt Company of Stanford donated art supplies in order for students from Jennie Rogers Elementary and other volunteers to help paint about 140 other hydrants.
The effort Centre College has invested in the debate cannot go unnoticed. Centre raised over $700,000 to hold the vice-presidential debate. Special work has been done all over campus including creating a back-up power network, expanding area cellular communication capacities, removing 690 seats from the Norton Center in order for press to have enough space and upgrading air conditioning systems to accomadate two gyms.
Before the debate, five-foot high, temporary fences, carpeting, pipes and drainage must be installed. The school is also bringing in 40 temporary toilets to accommodate the extra people on campus.
Landing the debate has meant hard work for Danville, but the effort has been graciously given because of the significance of this event. Biven said, “I think the publicity itself will make it worth it. Everyone in the country will be seeing how Danville operates and what a great town it is.”Back to top...
11:00 Winona LaDuke, Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate
11:15 Green Party of Centre College
11:30 Green Party of Central Kentucky
11:45 Green Party of Northern Kentucky
University
12:00 Music
12:15 Solidarity (Labor rights group from Detroit)
12:30 Indigenous Peoples’ Movement
(from Earlham College Runyon Center)
12:45 To Sense
1:00 Music
1:30 American Association of Retired
Persons
2:00 Mars Society (Ohio Chapter)
2:15 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
2:30 Students for Social Justice
(Bellarmine College)
2:45 Student Environmental Action
Coalition of Kentucky
3:00 ECCO—Environmentally Conscious Centre Organization
3:15 University of Louisville Green Party
3:30 University of Kentucky Leftist Student Union
3:45 American Civil Liberties Union
4:00 University of Kentucky Green Party
4:15 Billionaires for Bush (or Gore)
4:30 United Students Against Sweatshops
4:45 Clean Money Kentucky
5:00 Music
5:15 Kentucky Interfaith Coalition on
Latin America and the Caribbean
5:30 Voices in the Wilderness
5:45 Kick 66/Kentucky Heartwood
6:00 CentrePeace
6:15 Libertarian Party
6:30 Reform Party
6:45 Constitution Party (Dr. Curtis Frasier, Vice-Presidential Candidate)
7:00 Democratic Socialist Party
7:15 Right to Life/Pro-Life group
7:30 Million Mom March
7:45 Sierra Club
8:00 Kentucky Student/Youth Progressive Network
8:15 Coalition to Open the Debates
8:30 Music
8:45 Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
9:00 The Debate will be shown on a large- screen TV in Speakers’ Park
11:00 Speakers’ Park closes Back to top...
October 5 aftermath: When it's all debated and done
Ryan Moore
Cento Writer
The Vice Presidential Debate has required the concentration and action of many faculty, staff, administration and students for the preparation and execution of this momentous event. For a year now, the community has been saying, "It's coming! It's coming!" Soon, we will be saying, "It's here! It's here!" With all of the attention centered on the presence of the debate, very few people have stopped to consider the question "What happens to Centre after it is gone!?"
During the debate, Centre will have an abundance of additional fencing, cables, security, spectators and media. "The bulk of it all will be leaving by Friday," said Dean Lackey. The candidates and their respective entourages, along with the perpetually on-the-move media, should vacate campus by noon on Friday.
In the worst case scenario, it could take until the middle of next week for all the fencing, signs and cables to be removed. Don't fret, even the disappearing chairs in Newlin will be reinstalled. After the debate, the residence halls will soon resume being the focal point of the physical plant's efforts.
"I hope it's a community wide effort," says Dean Lackey, "Centre is going to be looking for everyone to help clean up." With the influx of people at the debate, there will certainly be an influx of trash. During and after the events, Professor Endre Nyerges, along with students, will be leading a recycling effort in hopes of controlling the trash problem. The whole campus will be back to its regular self in no time if everyone in the community chips in and does a little something.
Centre has been buzzing with media attention since it was considered as an option for the debate. Allison Elliot '01, a student who has been working very closely with the debate’s coordination, says, "We don't expect the media attention to go down for at least a couple of weeks."
The media's presence will become, however, less frequent here on campus while their attention shifts from debate preparations to the effect an event like this has on a small college and a small town.
"What I hope the debate does for Centre will be to give our faculty and students a greater confidence that, in spite of our size, we are a college that thinks and acts on a national scale," said J. Carey Thompson, Dean of Admission and Student Financial Planning. The accomplishment of hosting a Vice Presidential debate has widened and strengthened Centre's name recognition nationally.
After it is over, Centre's efforts will be turned internally. "Now it's time to focus on what we normally do well," says Dean Lackey. In essence, that means nothing less than improving the quality and raising the standards of the liberal arts education.
Afterwards, some students will find themselves easily settling back into the regular schedule, still reaching for the same goals and reflecting on how neat it was to be around a Vice Presidential debate. Other students may take their experience with the debate and find a new study of interest or a new career goal. "You're going to get out what you put into it," says Randy Hays, Associate Dean and Director of Residence Life and Counseling.
On Oct. 5, Centre will have put as much as it possibly could into the debate. Centre will just have to wait and see exactly what comes out of it. Back to top...
Debate day teach-ins offered for convo credit
Michael R. Wilson
Cento Writer
The day of Oct. 5 will afford Centre students two options. First, to take advantage of the reprieve from classes and indulge in academic idleness by tossing footballs, absorbing the carnival-like debate atmosphere, sleeping, etc. Second, to attend one of four "teach-ins" held in Young Hall 101. These teach-ins, conducted by some of Centre’s finest professors, focus attention upon some of the hottest political issues today and give a convocation credit.
Dr. Milton Reigelman, coordinator of the event hopes students will opt for the latter of the two options. Said Reigelman, "Some of our best faculty will help prepare people for understanding the debate and the election. We want Centre students and the town to be better educated on these issues."
The format of the teach-ins will emulate those teach-ins developed in the 1960s when colleges shut down during the Vietnam War.
These fairly informal sessions feature a panel of professors conversing on socially relevant issues yet including audience members in the discussion. They will, as Reigelman described, be hour–long sessions of "team teaching" whose purpose is "to inform, not persuade."
Though professors volunteered to offer their knowledge on key issues such as "international hotspots", "parties’ environmental issues", etc., the discussions should remain unbiased. Regardless, students will have numerous opportunities to speak up should they choose to do so.
Students are encouraged to attend all four sessions, but can receive the convocation credit by attending just one. Reigelman stressed that each session can last no longer than one hour since the room will be used for all of the sessions.
The teach-ins on politics begin at 10 a.m. with "Censorship, the First Ammendment and the Internet" with Gordon Tapper, Charlie Campbell and David Binger. "The Parties’ Positions on Environmental Issues" with Preston Miles, Anne Lubbers, Endre Nyerges and Mike Hamm at 11 a.m. "Debating the Debates" with Bill Garriot and Dan Stroup at 12 p.m. "International Hotspots and the Campaign" with Nayef Samhat and Lori Hartman-Mahmud at 1 p.m.
All of the teach-ins will take place in Young Hall 101.Back to top...
Historian Schlesinger kicks off Distinguished Speaker series
Ashley Vinsel
Cento Writer
For the audience in Newlin last week after Arthur Schlesinger’s talk entitled “Running for President: Perils and Possibilities,” the post-convo chatter dealt with more than the large number of attendees or debate-ready seating. Schlesinger, a name well-recognized by students and faculty, delivered a talk which probed into topics usually accepted without question by society today. Schlesinger is a historian nationally recognized for his speeches, for writing books on several presidents and being an assistant to President John F. Kennedy. Locally, he has been an editorial writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal. This lecture was the first in the new Centre Distinguished Speakers series endowed by Lucille Caudill Little.
Schlesinger’s lecture focused on the changing role of political parties over the last 200+ years. He supported the idea that political parties are not part of George Washington’s Republic, dividing the country as opposed to unifying its people.
Party competition used to be entertainment and fun in the days before professional sports, radio and television. Schlesinger cited Andrew Jackson as the last of the “old school” politicians, with the 1828 election bringing party politics into the presidential race.
Schlesinger also discussed party conventions and their effectiveness. William Jennings Bryan’s famous cry at the 1896 convention to end the gold standard is still brought up as an example of conventions being a showcase to voters unfamiliar with presidential candidates. The original purpose of a convention was to choose the party’s candidate. Schlesinger implied that modern conventions are more of a show for supporters of the candidates because there is no surprise over whom the party will nominate.
The media, according to Schlesinger, has “diminished party politics.” He pointed out that voters will find out more about candidates from 30-second TV ads than from any other source of information.
The first Kennedy-Nixon debate, Schlesinger commented, was clearly won by Kennedy mostly due to the physical appearance of Kennedy on television sets. Schlesinger’s talk, well-timed with Centre’s own political experiences, emphasized that “politics is an evolutionary process.” In a country full of trouble and change, a party tries to present remedies in a party platform. How this actually turns out, as he would put it, is something to be considered. Back to top...
Student Judiciary reports on previous year’s hearings
This document satisfies the Student Judiciary’s constitutional responsibility to submit a report for publication in the Cento that summarizes the judiciary hearings for the previous academic year. The report also informs selected college administrators about the current status of the Judiciary.
In the first social case, a student was cited for physical assault. The Judiciary found the student in question guilty for intensifying the conflict, but stressed that both parties were guilty of bad judgment and verbal assault. The punishment for the accused student included a $100 fine and the responsibility of coordinating a program on conflict resolution that would target all of the Centre College community with an emphasis on Greek organizations. Both students involved were encouraged to share the responsibility of organizing the program.
Another case involved excessive disregard for college regulations. The Student Judiciary found the student in question guilty and recommended an immediate suspension with a possible reinstatement after two academic terms. The student’s readmission depended upon the following stipulations: proof of participation in alcohol counseling, a letter discussing the student’s growth and improvement from his/her counselor and a personal statement to Dean Lackey. The punishment was based on the violation of individual privacy, the Centre College Statement of Community and the Student Judiciary’s policy of Alcohol Prohibition until the age of 21.
The final case concerned a group of students who were cited for intimidation and disrespect of a college official. Several students within the group were also cited for consumption and possession of alcohol. One student within the group was additionally cited for sexual harassment. The Student Judiciary found the students not guilty of intimidation, but the students were deemed guilty of all other citations. Each of the students were required to complete 12 hours of community service and to participate in Health Awareness Week. Those charged with possession of alcohol were required to pay a $25 fine. In addition to the previous punishments, the following penalties were recommended for the student guilty of sexual harassment: a fine of $100 and a term of social probation lasting ten weeks in which the student was prohibited from attending any registered social function.
There were no academic cases brought before the Student Judiciary in the 1999-2000 school year, but several academic violations were assessed and handled by Dean Perkins.
Members of the Student Judiciary for the 1999-2000 academic year were as follows: Emily Cash, chair; Beth Owen, secretary; Ross Todd, Shavonne Smith, Jason Engel, Patrick Noltemeyer, Heather Cash, Josh Davis, Molly Alvey, Jason Crosby, Conner Picken (alternate) and Jimmy Owens (alternate). Any questions or concerns should be directed to Dr. Barbara Hall, who is the faculty advisor, or the present chair, Patrick Noltemeyer.
The current members of Student Judiciary for the 2000-2001 academic year include: Patrick Noltemeyer, chair; Heather Cash, secretary; Molly Alvey, Josh Davis, Jason Crosby, Travis Kern, Shea Cheuvront, Rachel Gaddis, Meg Harney, Matt Mooney and alternates Conner Picken and Jimmy Owens. Back to top...