Spring Break
Seminar educates public about clean elections
Jamie Smith
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: News
A presentation on the need for clean elections will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. in Capen Auditorium.
"The seminar is about how people should be aware of our electoral process and how the campaigns are financed," Kara Karraker, a junior public relations major, said.
Many people do not know that campaigns are mostly financed through corporate donors and big donations.
"It is really to educate the public about the need for clean elections because of the lack of such has become a real threat to the survival of democracy in our country," Charline Watts, co-chair of the Living Democracy Committee of Bloomington-Normal, said.
"Money comes to play such a role in determining who runs, who is elected and the nature of a lot of legislation that is proposed at the state or federal level," Watts added.
Clean elections are meant to help everyone get a fair chance in running for election.
"What we mean by clean elections is public funding and the reason for it is that we want everybody to have the same opportunity for voting and for running for campaigns. We want people to have the opportunity to run who don't have money. We want people to run who have the backing of others in their communities and who are representing the voices of those people in the communities," Donella Hess-Grabill, co-chair of the Living Democracy Committee of Bloomington-Normal, said.
The presentation will include a video, several speeches followed by a panel discussion with Carol Koos, McLean County Board member Tari Renner and State Representative Dan Brady, who have all run for election.
"Our main purpose is to bring awareness to everyone about how campaigns are financed and what could be done to change the corrupt system of a candidate after they are elected into office, since now they are only serving the interest of big corporate donors instead of the interest of the citizens," Karraker said.
The presentation is in regard to both state and federal government elections.
"It is not just limited to national control, it is also in communities where people feel apathetic because they can't influence much anyway or they lost track of who has the reigns in the government," Hess-Grabill said.
Elections can also affect areas important to students such as tuition and student loans.
"Our main goal is to bring the community and student bodies of various schools who are participating some awareness of the extent of which money behind the elections is ruining our actions and the effects that we feel," Hess-Grabill said. "Even student loans are affected and tuition. If we're politicizing all of those things, what else are we doing?"
The event is free and open to the public.
Lambda Pi Eta, C.O.M.M., the ISU Documentary Project and the Living Democracy Committee are sponsoring the event.
"The seminar is about how people should be aware of our electoral process and how the campaigns are financed," Kara Karraker, a junior public relations major, said.
Many people do not know that campaigns are mostly financed through corporate donors and big donations.
"It is really to educate the public about the need for clean elections because of the lack of such has become a real threat to the survival of democracy in our country," Charline Watts, co-chair of the Living Democracy Committee of Bloomington-Normal, said.
"Money comes to play such a role in determining who runs, who is elected and the nature of a lot of legislation that is proposed at the state or federal level," Watts added.
Clean elections are meant to help everyone get a fair chance in running for election.
"What we mean by clean elections is public funding and the reason for it is that we want everybody to have the same opportunity for voting and for running for campaigns. We want people to have the opportunity to run who don't have money. We want people to run who have the backing of others in their communities and who are representing the voices of those people in the communities," Donella Hess-Grabill, co-chair of the Living Democracy Committee of Bloomington-Normal, said.
The presentation will include a video, several speeches followed by a panel discussion with Carol Koos, McLean County Board member Tari Renner and State Representative Dan Brady, who have all run for election.
"Our main purpose is to bring awareness to everyone about how campaigns are financed and what could be done to change the corrupt system of a candidate after they are elected into office, since now they are only serving the interest of big corporate donors instead of the interest of the citizens," Karraker said.
The presentation is in regard to both state and federal government elections.
"It is not just limited to national control, it is also in communities where people feel apathetic because they can't influence much anyway or they lost track of who has the reigns in the government," Hess-Grabill said.
Elections can also affect areas important to students such as tuition and student loans.
"Our main goal is to bring the community and student bodies of various schools who are participating some awareness of the extent of which money behind the elections is ruining our actions and the effects that we feel," Hess-Grabill said. "Even student loans are affected and tuition. If we're politicizing all of those things, what else are we doing?"
The event is free and open to the public.
Lambda Pi Eta, C.O.M.M., the ISU Documentary Project and the Living Democracy Committee are sponsoring the event.
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