SUSO panel to discuss foreign policy

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the October 13, 2008 edition of Central Michigan Life.)

“Speak Up, Speak Out” is going global.

With less than a month left in the campaign season, “Speak Up, Speak Out: The Current Event Series” will hold its third forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.

The theme of the forum is “Foreign Policy: The Candidates and Their Platforms.” The forum will be facilitated
by political science assistant professor David K. Jesuit.

Much like the previous forums, the event will feature clips of the candidates, a panel discussion and a question-and-answer session between the audience and panel.

The clips will be taken from the first two presidential debates and the vice presidential debate, with the emphasis on the debates between John McCain and Barack Obama.

“We will have a few clips from the VP debate, but we will focus on the presidential debates because McCain and Obama are the ones on the top of the ticket,” Jesuit said.

This panel will be bigger than previous “Speak Up, Speak Out” panels, featuring four professors and four students. The professors on the panel will be political science assistant professor Moataz Fattah, political science professor Sterling Johnson, political science professor Won Paik and political science associate professor Orlando Perez.

The students on the panel will be sophomores Travis Faber from Battle Creek and Ben Greene from Grand Rapids, who are supporting McCain. Trenton junior Alex Teska and Detroit freshman Ricardo White are supporting Barack Obama.

Jesuit wanted an expert from every region of the globe and also wanted enough students on the panel to balance out the professors.

“Each (panelist) have a region of expertise,” Jesuit said. “Dr. Fattah’s is Iraq and the Middle East, Dr. Paik’s is East Asia, Dr. Johnson’s is U.S. foreign policy and African politics, and mine is Europe.”

Even with the larger than usual panel, Jesuit wants the audience to know that he still expects them to carry the discussion during the evening.

“I still want and expect a lot of audience participation,” he said.

Along with the economy, foreign policy and national security have been top issues among many undecided voters.

“I think that Sen. Obama is best suited to handle a foreign affairs issue because his policy centers around diplomacy, and diplomacy is what our county has been missing for the last eight years,” Teska said.