Are you engaged? Politically, that is. Members of the Elon chapter of the National Campaign for Civic and Political Engagement want the answer to that question to be yes.

Last Wednesday, the organization hosted a political debate. They wore shirts emblazoned with the question, “Are you engaged?” and on the back, the slogan, “You can’t ignore politics.”

The debate, held in Whitley Auditorium, was between representatives of College Democrats and College Republicans. Four topics were addressed: the war in Iraq, immigration, health care and climate change. The topics were chosen by students, who were given the opportunity to vote at College Coffee. The actual questions were then created by members of the National Campaign.

Kristen Romano, a senior and member of the National Campaign, said between 20 and 30 topics were mentioned.

“The war in Iraq was definitely the most popular topic,” she said.

For that reason, it was the first subject debated. While the debaters were told the four general topics in advance, they did not know the specific questions that would be asked.

Two debaters were asked to share their opinions on the inaction of Democrats in Congress regarding the War in Iraq, President Bush’s mandates for withdrawal, the increasing costs of the war and the best plan for pulling American troops out of Iraq.

Nick Ochsner, a representative of College Republicans, said the country must “stay the course” in Iraq.

“Quite frankly, pulling back would simply be stupid,” Ochsner said.

Dan Shutt, the Democratic counterpart on this issue, offered a different viewpoint.

“Start withdrawing now, and have them all home by the end of next year,” he said.

Shutt said that lessening the American presence in Iraq is necessary for an independently working government to develop.

“If we take Americans out of Iraq, that puts the pressure back on Iraqi politicians,” he said.

Ochsner said that the situation in Iraq is more complicated than Shutt let on.

“We’re dealing with lives. We’re dealing with countries, nations,” Ochsner said. “Nothing simple.”

The topic of immigration was addressed by Rebecca Zeitlin, a member of College Democrats, and Rob Smeaton, a member of College Republicans.

Zeitlin spoke in favor of integrating immigrants, both legal and illegal, into American society. But Smeaton spoke in opposition of illegal immigration and in favor of mass deportation.

Smeaton said illegal immigrants are putting a strain on the public school system, health care system and government-funded programs like Social Security. Zeitlin argued that, since immigrants pay most of the taxes that legal citizens pay but have less access to government services, they are actually contributing to the country’s economy.

“Unfortunately, our immigration policies just aren’t cutting it right now,” Zeitlin said. “We have this line of people waiting to get into our country to work, teach, study, whatever. We need a comprehensive plan that incorporates these people into our system.”

Democrat John Bateman and Republican Smeaton fielded questions about the current health care system, as well as the implementation of a new one. Climate change was debated by Democrat Chelsey Anglin and Republican Ochsner.

Romano said the debate featured two student groups to garner more interest from the student body.

“We want it to be relatable to students, so we decided on something student-based,” she said.

The organization set up a voter’s registration table at the event, and offered to mail in students’ completed forms.

“Our organization is set up to do that,” Romano said. “We want to provide people with an opportunity to vote, and to become engaged in the process.”

Reporter: Whitney Bossie - 12/05/07