With the button-down collars and oxford shoes on one side and the blue hair and worn khakis on the other, the College Republicans and the College Democrats sat down for their semesterly debate last night. Discussing topics such as the environment, President Bush's proposed tax cut and civil rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people, each party presented its take on national politics before a crowd of 20 in Houston Hall. College Democrats President Arshad Hassan started off the topic of civil rights based on sexual orientation by saying that the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- while protecting against discrimination based on race, religion, gender and ethnicity -- disregarded sexual orientation. "What you have, essentially, is a second-class citizenship," the College sophomore said. "Some people in this country do not have the same rights as other people." Although Hassan quoted a 1996 Gallup poll that showed 85 percent of people support equal rights for gays and lesbians, his Republican counterpart -- College Republicans President Philip Bartlett -- is not one of them. "It is not entirely undebatable that the gay and lesbian lifestyle is a choice that an individual makes, or that it is a behavior that a person chooses to live by," the College senior said. "It is not something that is inherent in any of us -- like race, for example." Each side had two minutes to present their opening remarks, followed by two minutes of rebuttal and time for audience questions. Rebutting the Democrats' stance on the Fair Labor Protection Act -- which provides protection for LGBT employees -- College junior Emily Stetler said that firing an employee based on sexual orientation was the employer's loss, not the employee's. "Economic sense tells us that you hire and keep hired the most qualified person," said the College Republican, disavowing the need for additional governmental regulations on civil rights. President's Bush's proposed $1.7 trillion tax cut was also a dividing factor between the two sides, one that some feel gives the bulk of its surplus to those with the highest incomes. "The real guiding strength behind America's resurgence and growth is not a government program, it's the entrepreneurial spirit," College Republicans member Brett Singer said. "The proposal that Mr. Bush has proposed is something that... empowers the entrepreneurs and it empowers the businessmen -- the people who are most likely to bring about investment and long term growth in our country." "Once the wealthiest can, they will provide jobs for the underpriveliged," the College sophomore said. The two sides argued over whether tax cuts are the cause of increased deficits or whether they minimize them by curbing "irresponsible" spending. Nevertheless, the Democrats felt that Bush's tax cut plan was certainly not the answer. "The entrepreneurs, the people who engineer the small businesses in America, are not always in that top one percent," College freshman Joshua Brown said. "Why not promote economic development in impoverished areas?" The event, which was moderated by Political Science Professor Henry Teune, was followed by a discussion of the topics, after the formal debate. "I thought it was fairly boring -- the question I asked they didn't even respond to," said Wharton freshman Rohit Shetty, who asked the Democrats about the government's right to redistribute money. "I didn't hear anything that I didn't hear before." But College senior Leah Davis said she enjoyed the discussion. "I've been on the College Democrats' listserv for the past four years, but I haven't really been involved at all," she said. "And then I saw this debate [on the listserv] and I found it to be really interesting."
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