Voting, campaigns cornerstone of campus dialogue

National program to form student focus groups during political debates

DebateWatch, a national research project based at the University of Kansas, will begin surveying students at JMU during the upcoming presidential debates.

Participants in the focus group will watch the presidential debates and discuss their reactions with others in the group.

"We get people from the JMU community together and watch the presidential debate," said Jay Self, faculty member from the school of communications.

"Once it’s over, we turn off the TV and break into focus groups and ask questions. After this, we collect the data and fax it to University of Kansas, who records the results for a long-term study."

Involved in DebateWatch 2000, Self will be leading DebateWatch on Sept. 30, Oct. 5, 13 and 18. Self is using the data as part of his research in political communication.

He feels that most students are not connected to politics and this will give them an opportunity to get involved.

According to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the results are used to help decide formats and structures for future debates, while educating people about the political process.

DebateWatch originally began in 1996.

"Anyone interested can participate. We talk about non-partisan issues, like the format of the debate, what the students like and what they didn’t like," Self said. "People who participate are taking part in a political process."

Sophomore Nicole Cutti said, "I think that having the DebateWatch program would be an excellent opportunity for peers to become involved in the democratic process.

She added that the program could help"Students be more informed about voting issues and the candidates, so they could participate in like-minded debates to foster the growth of JMU’s community.

"I was definitely planning on watching the debates to be more informed about the candidate’s stands on issues, and I would definitely check out DebateWatch," she said.

However, some students do not find DebateWatch to be beneficial.

"I was going to watch the debate, but I wasn’t planning on watching it with other people," senior David Horton said.

"Before I came to school I watched them with my family, who I share the same political views with, so watching the debate didn’t change my views just reinforced them."