By David Drucker
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA joined the political discourse Aug. 13 with “Red,
White, and Bruin,” a panel discussion of issues currently up
for debate in the 2000 presidential campaign.
Moderated by veteran Southern California television and radio
journalist Warren Olney, the event was held in Ackerman Grand
Ballroom, the site of a 1988 presidential debate and other notable
political events.
“We’re taking advantage of having the Democratic
Convention in Los Angeles,” said Chancellor Albert Carnesale
at the event. “There are many alumni who are elected
officials and convention delegates, and it’s wonderful to see
them back here again.”
Olney, a senior fellow at the School of Public Policy and Social
Research, considered his participation in the program, which
included a buffet and jazz concert in Royce Hall, of great value to
himself and the community.
“I think these meetings are very important,” Olney
said. “It’s a way of giving back, and I care about the
ideas.”
The panel was comprised of Public Policy Associate Dean Fernando
Torres-Gil, Senior Fellow Richard O’Donnell, and former
television journalist and current doctoral candidate in
anthropology Tritia Toyota.
The effect of debates like these on the community at large were
of particular interest to attendees.
“The problem with these events are that the people who
come are the same people who always come,” Olney said.
“There ought to be this kind of meeting on the electronic
media.”
O’Donnell said his participation is partly due to the fact
that researching and debating politics and social concerns are his
major interests.
But, he also said the nature of the 2000 presidential race has
contributed to the decline in public interest as reported by
various polls.
“There’s no overriding issue in this campaign, as
opposed to 1996, which was an issues campaign,”
O’Donnell said.
During the event, the audience responded most enthusiastically
to a discussion on campaign-finance reform.
Toyota offered the most radical method of reforming campaign
finance.
“I didn’t think like this five or 10 years
ago,” Toyota said. “But I’m beginning to believe
that the only way we can do away with this problem is to institute
public funding.”
For some alumni, the event was simply a way of staying involved
in the UCLA community, and using the opportunity to visit the
campus.
Bill Younglove, who received his M.E.D. in 1983, said the debate
wasn’t going to change the party or the candidate he
supports, nor did he expect it to.
“I liked the atmosphere, and I think that more people
should pay attention to the real issues,” he said.