One week before the national election, the Young Republicans and Young Democrats debated current politics on a stage before the upperclassmen.  The students were asked about immigration reform, minimum wage changes, and carbon footprint taxation.

The debate format allows for one side to present their argument for two minutes, then allows the other side to cross-examine the presenting side for four minutes. This goes back and forth for three questions.

The Young Democrats were led by Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Dickson, and Mrs. Jacobson, while the Young Republicans were headed by Dr. Kostandarithes.

Many students had different opinions about who won the debate. Grace Igel ’17 mentioned, “Some of the comments on the Republican side were unnecessary.”

Although some students disagreed with how the Young Republicans handled some of the issues, a majority of the students believed that the Republicans won the debate. Matthew Malayapa ’18 said, “I think the Republicans won because the Democrats contradicted themselves too many times.”  However, he went on to say, “In terms of facts, they were both terrible.”

Overall, students respected the amount of preparation and stage presence the students had. Isabella Smith ’17 said, “I think everyone was well prepared and did a very good job.”