September 28, 2012 | SharkAdmin This year’s presidential and local elections are a hot topic at Northwest Vista College. [image1]On Sept. 25, republican and democratic candidates in local races held a debate in Mountain Laurel Hall drawing about 100 attendees, in which 86 were students. NVC President Jackie Claunch welcomed Texas House candidates John Garza (R) and Philip Cortez (D) as well as 379th district Criminal Court Judge Ron Rangel (D) and State Board of Education Candidate for District 3 Marisa Perez (D). Andrew Hill of the Philosophy area, said the debate “was informative and occasionally passionate. The two were (mostly) respectful of each other, and answered questions from students for an hour between 7:15 and 8:15 pm.” [image3]The next event in the works is a presidential debate watch party on Oct. 3 in the cafeteria of the Cypress Campus Center. Congressional candidate Joaquin Castro, a recent speaker at the National Democratic Convention, will also be present toward the end of the viewing. For more information on this event, contact Craig Coroneos at [email protected] or 486-4812. NVC employees and students have also worked together to register voters – especially younger voters who turnout in smaller numbers to vote despite they have one of the largest voting populations. [image2]Research shows that registering to vote is sometimes a larger hurdle than the act of voting itself. To encourage voter registration, NVC is participating in efforts through SA2020 and Texas Votes to increase civic participation. NVC began registering voters during Wildcat Welcome Days and efforts will continue through Oct. 9. Mary Dixson, dean of Interdisciplinary Programs, recently said the college has almost met its goal to register 500 voters. On Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the Cypress lakeside, voting registration activities will continue with live music and free giveaways. All these activities were sponsored or helped by NVC student clubs and NVC departments, in addition to SA Votes and Rock the Vote organizations.
