Brown and White Vol. 108 No. 12

              the brown and white lehigh university's student newspaper founded in 1894 vol 108 no 12 friday october 20 2000 all the lehigh news first foreign press gives election 2000 views representatives from england russia and germany express opinions on american politics by jennifer fluder news writer a panel discussing how the foreign press views election 2000 was held tuesday in sinclair auditorium this discussion included two journal ists lan williams from london and alexei berezhkov from russia as well as two students patrick schmid 03 from germany and ivor griffiths 02 who has studied abroad in germany the moderator for this event was margaret rutherford 02 who is involved in foreign affairs at lehigh many international students would like to see their country's views concern ing the 2000 election rather than just an american perspective she said this panel allows the international community to be better informed the discussion not only included the present issues of the election but also identified the differences between the american system compared to the english and russian election processes williams who has been working at the tribune in london for 17 years said that we have a 300-year history of common roots but today it is still difficult to find common ground one has to force analogies to find any real relation between our two coun tries he said alexei berezhkov from the itar tass in russia agreed with williams i try but i cannot find any compar isons he said our democracy is only 10-years-old and we still consider the democratic election a bit weird the russians follow the american elec tions somewhat though usually only as an indicator of whom they will be dealing with in regards to foreign relations berezhkov said that even though the russians do not pay a great deal of atten tion to the elections all have the ability to watch internationally broadcast stations such as cnn in the english parliament parties allo cate the campaign funds to the candi dates the individual candidates do not actually raise the funds themselves williams pointed out that this is much different from the american system american politics is intensely dominat ed with people who have money williams said according to williams much of society is left out of even having a chance to run in an election he notes that a 70 percent voter turnout in england is considered low whereas in america the average turnout is only around fifty percent b&wphoto by amanda strickler he also mentions that this is surpris ing to the english because they do not understand why it is difficult to moti vate citizens to vote for their leader one possible explanation is that in members of the foreign press and two students discuss the views of england russia and germany in regards to american politics and the 2000 election debate held even after carnahan's death by amy cohen news writer the third and final presidential debate took place tuesday night at washington university in st louis mo despite the death of missouri's gov mcl carnahan the decision to hold the debate was made by the bipartisan commission on presidential debates after consulting with representatives of democratic candidate vice president al gore and his gop rival texas gov george w bush carnahan his son and a campaign adviser were killed when their private plane crashed about 30 miles south of st louis monday night carnahan who was 66-years-old was in the middle of an intense u.s senate race against republican candidate sen john ashcroft ashcroft has suspended his campaign as a result of the tragedy a moment of silence was held at the beginning of the debate for carnahan and those aboard the plane with him before answering his first question gore extended his sympathy and condo lences for the carnahan family i'd just like to say that this debate in a way is a living tribute to mcl carnahan because he loved the vigorous discussion of ideas in our democracy gore said bush also expressed his condolences before answering his first question god's blessings on the families whose lives were overturned last night it was a tragic moment bush said i the debate lasted 90 i minutes and was held in a town meeting format allowing audi ence members to ask the candidates ques tions pbs anchorman jim lehrer mod erated the debate the first question was in regards to healthcare and hmos gore respond ed first saying that he supports a national patients bill of rights and his opponent does not actually mr vice president it's not true i do support a national patients bill of rights bush countered uas a matter of fact i brought news republicans and democrats together to do just that in the state of texas to get a patients bill of rights through gore responded i referred to the dingell-norwood bill it is the bipartisan bill that is now pending in the congress the hmos and the insurance compa nies support the other bill that's pending the one that republican major ity has put forward lehrer asked bush what the difference was between his and gore's views he said well the difference is that i can get it done one questioner asked what would make you the best candidate in office during the middle east crisis bush responded by giving his leader ship credentials it requires a clear vision willingness to stand by our friends and the credibili ty for people both friend and foe to understand when america says some thing we mean it he said gore also responded by stating his previous leadership roles we're going to face some serious new challenges in the next four years i've worked on that long and hard gore said on the issue of gun control bush said he is for trigger locks and instant back ground checks at gun shows he said he believes there needs to be a consequence for people selling guns illegally gore said that his proposals are aimed at the real problem he advocates safety measures to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people he said but all of my proposals are focused on that problem gun safety none of my proposals would have any effect on hunters or sportsmen or people who use rifles a college professor in the audience said he hears a lot of apathy among young people who feel the issues are not directed toward them gore said he spends a lot of time talking to young people he said he tells them sometimes people who are very idealistic and have see press page 6 see debate page 6 m the hull sisters race to what are your options wayne brady reveals jutl\sl hh jl jt tne finisn line for parents weekend comedy and other fac w^ffl r(tlk f°r claudins feature see page 5 tales see page 7 i^w gppß see pa9e 20 like fingerprints khspr fnt m everyone's tongue print w s sports 15-20 news 1-6 lifestyle 7-14 is different i * field hockey 18 world news briefs 2 hidden treasures 8 fym golf 19 social construction 3 look who's talking 11 c i csnsvt-u-^ll m jai n i l i i • x _ . . . source:www.sbt.bhmedia.com i 1 a i football preview 20 lehigh briefs 4 face in the crowd 13