Bruin Republicans and Bruin Democrats gathered on Tuesday to hold their quarterly debate, discussing important political issues including school vouchers, the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, universal health care and the Federal Dream Act.
The first three topics debated followed an organized format to provide equal opportunity for both clubs to present their side as well as comment on the opposition, but the debate became heated as both parties moved on to the discussion of the Federal Dream Act, which would make more financial aid available to undocumented students.
The first topic touched upon during the debate was the enactment of school vouchers, which are certificates parents are given to pay for the education of their children at a school of their choice, such as a private institution, rather than a public school.
“School vouchers would force public school systems to improve in order to compete. The only reason why schools would fail is if kids leave to attend better schools,” said Jimmy Dunn, secretary for Bruin Republicans.
Kyle Kleckner, president of Bruin Democrats, said that education is done by the people and it should stay that way. He said the government should not be using taxpayer dollars to pay for people who might choose a religious education. He said this goes against the Constitution.
Next, the debate moved on to discuss the surge of U.S. troops into Iraq. Both sides agreed that increasing the amount of troops in Iraq has been successful although further work is needed.
“We need to stabilize the Middle East before we can institute a government. Any political process takes time. The troops have allowed them to effectively begin setting up a government,” said Andrew Kreitz, a debater for the Bruin Republicans. “Withdrawing the troops will not help solve the problem.”
The debaters then spoke about universal health care in the U.S. The Bruin Democrats argued for universal health care, while the Bruin Republicans did not support it.
“Health care is a fundamental right that should be guaranteed for all citizens. Like education, health care is essential for any citizen as the right to life is inalienable,” said Navid Pour-Ghasemi, treasurer of the Bruin Democrats.
David Lazar, chairman of Bruin Republicans and a former Daily Bruin columnist, said that the government is not able to adequately provide health care. He said that government control of health care has led to substandard health care in other countries. He said he believes health care is a service, not a right.
Also discussed was the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, also known as the Dream Act, which is a proposed immigration legislation that was intended to help certain long-term undocumented residents.
In the Bruin Republicans’ opening statement, speaker Manuel Velarde impersonated a member of MEChA, an organization that works to empower Latino students, angering many of his opponents in the debate. Velarde later said, jokingly, his comments were meant to point out what he said were idealistic and absurd parts of MeCha’s mission statement, such as demanding that California, Texas, New Mexico and a few other states be returned to Mexico.
Prior to debate about the DREAM Act, Lazar said he had told Bruin Democrats that his group did not hold an opposing view on the Dream Act. He said the Bruin Democrats were still adamant about including the topic.
Curtis Whatley, issues director for the Bruin Democrats, said that they were expecting a serious debate after the two clubs had met to discuss debate topics, He said the Bruin Democrats were unaware of the Bruin Republican’s choice to approach the topic in the manner they chose to.
Lazar said Bruin Republicans chose not to take the debate topic seriously because he believes the Bruin Democrats did not take his own group seriously enough to publicly discuss the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week organized by the Bruin Republicans in October. Instead, Lazar said, the Bruin Democrats accused the Bruin Republicans for being racist in a club e-mail.
“Instead of agreeing with the Bruin Democrats during the debate, we thought it would be more entertaining to joke about the issue,” Lazar said.
However, representatives from Bruin Democrats said they were not amused.
“I found no humor in their actions and purely saw it as racist. His comments were grossly offensive, and there is no excuse for them,” Kleckner said.