Miami University

Participate in "DebateWatch" at Miami

09/23/2004

Miami University will be part of DebateWatch for this year's presidential debates. Beginning with the first debate Sept. 30, university and community members are invited to watch the debates together and participate in guided discussions afterward.

Ohio’s position as a swing state in this national election makes the DebateWatch at Miami particularly important, says Ben Voth, associate professor of communication and director of forensics at Miami. Information from Miami’s event will be gathered into a national database of a study on the results of the presidential debates. Several other campuses across the state are hosting DebateWatch programs as well. OU, UD and UC are among those listed online.

DebateWatch is a voter education program of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which sponsors and produces the debates.

Miami’s event will be at 100 Laws. The televised debate begins at 9 p.m. and participants are advised to arrive a little early. All of the presidential debates and the vice presidential debate similarly will be available for viewing and discussion at 100 Laws and will begin at 9 p.m.

The presidential debates are Thursday, Sept. 30; Friday, Oct. 8; and Wednesday, Oct. 13. One vice presidential debate is set for Tuesday, Oct. 5.

Voth and Gerald Sanders, professor emeritus of communication, have organized Miami’s participation in DebateWatch.

National information about the events is available at www.debates.org. A “Viewer’s Guide” to debates is at www.debates.org/pages/dwguide.html. The Web page lists Robert Friedenberg, professor of communication at Miami Hamilton, among contributors to the guide.

For more information about Miami’s program, contact Ben Voth, 529-2278.