Students encouraged to get involved

For October’s Perspectives meeting, President David Black and Dr. Kathy Lee discussed the upcoming presidential election.

Students gathered in the Gough Great Room to hear the president of the university and the political science department chair. Topics included the complexity of morality, voting, the war on terror, education, welfare and abortion.

“Voting is the notion of expressing ownership…for your own enlightened self-interest,” Black said.

In a lengthy dialogue about the war on terror, many thought-provoking points were raised.

Black suggested that “we should not be soft, but make efforts to understand…we need more thought before more action.”

Lee compared the war on terror to a war on the mafia, because many do not understand how to conduct a war on a group other than a nation state.

Both Black and Lee expressed concern about the war on Iraq.

“One may have righteous zeal but be very shortsighted. Going in is one thing, but solving problems is another,” Black said about the decision to go into Iraq.

“One of the most distressing things [about Iraq] is we come as liberators, yet it is unsafe there,” Lee said.

Another issue raised was whether or not it was worth voting for Ralph Nader.

“If Nader expresses your beliefs or principles, then how can it be a wasted vote?” Lee responded. Students responded well to such questions.

“I thought it would be more informative than question-and-response, but it was still interesting to hear what they thought,” sophomore Justin Ford said.

“For me, the most insightful issue addressed was that of Eastern’s responsibility to not refer to one political party as the Christian way,” first-year Jon Price said.

“Our responsibilities are rooted in who we say we are,” Black said. “Eastern University has an obligation to face and respond to issues through open, inquiring debate outside the classroom. I pray for a campus alive with debate.”