Moments before Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader took center stage last night, Dave Norris, associate director of Madison House, challenged students to vote according to their consciences in the November election.
The Democratic and Republican parties, Norris said, "have already decided what the questions are and don't want Ralph Nader to answer them."
When the lawyer-turned-author finally appeared before a packed audience in Old Cabell Hall Auditorium, Nader addressed the need for universal health care coverage, a solution to child poverty, reformation of the education system, increased attention to budget concerns and an end to what he called a "two-party duopoly" in American politics.
Nader first criticized the American education system for placing what he feels is too great an emphasis on measurements like grades and standardized test scores.
"The most important evaluation of human intelligence cannot be measured by standardized tests," he said.
He also condemned American universities for becoming "glorified trade schools."
Nader went on to address what he called the failing and destructive war on drugs.
He said treating addictions as crimes is self-defeating and cruel.
"Bush admitted he used drugs when he was young and irresponsible, so why does he deserve to be president while others deserve to be in prisons," he questioned.
Nader also asserted the need to punish corporate crimes with equal tenacity as other crimes.
He said Americans must recognize the liability of tobacco companies, the disproportionate application of capital punishment to minorities and the poor, as well as the wasteful nature of defense spending, which he said could be used to eliminate tuitions in public schools and community colleges.
Sentiments of audience members before and after the speech were mixed. Roommates Catherine Lindon and Addie Pierce-McManamon, both third-year College students, were divided in their feelings toward presidential candidates.
Lindon said before the speech she was not certain who she was voting for in November but was leaning toward Republican candidate George W. Bush. Pierce-McManamon said she was leaning towards Democratic candidate Al Gore.
Both were attracted to Nader's speech out of curiosity about where he stood on certain issues.
After the speech, Lindon changed her mind about who she plans to support in November. "Nader is definitely a persuasive speaker and as of now he has my vote," she said.
Graduate College student Chris Stevens also said he supports Nader's ideas. "If you want to support pork-barrel politics, Yankee imperialism in Colombia and a country with a history of human rights abuses, vote Democratic or Republican," Stevens said.
(See related article, page 5.)
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