Elephants and donkeys don’t play well together.

This past Tuesday night at the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium in Cook Hall, the College Republicans and the Young Democrats squared off on issues ranging from gun control and education, to the proposed plan for the St. Louis Cardinals new ballpark.

“I thought it was a great event,” said Director of Student Life Phil Lyons. “There were a lot of great questions asked.”

The event, which was sponsored by the Great Issues Committee, kicked-off the Student Activities Board’s 4 Days of Fun in 2001.

Each party chose five representatives to tackle the issues. Representing the College Republicans were Vijay Chokalingam, Nicholas Pistor, Mike Benoist, Joe Chambers and Jon “Blake” Moore. Defending the Democrat ideals were Paul Woody, Nick Sarcone, Dane Salazar, Adam Altman and Kevin Cook.

Young Democrat advisor Kenneth Warren, Ph.D. and College Republican advisor John McGowan Ph.D. acted as moderators, asking questions to the opposing party.

The crowd of about 30 students witnessed the future of American politics as the candidates went round and round with rebuttals and rebuttals to rebuttals.

Throughout the debate the participants defended their beliefs and practiced some old- fashioned mud slinging. As the debate became heated, facilitator Lyons said, “I need a gavel or a bullhorn.”

When the participants had cooler heads, they touched on solid points of their respective parties. The College Republicans suggested that environmental regulations be lifted in California to aid in the power crisis, Salazar replied, “You have to look at the long term, not the short term. You want to ruin the environment for power? This is a short-term solution; you can’t solve one problem by creating another.”

Foreign policy brought up the topic of aligning with China or Taiwan. “We should continue to trade with China,” said Cook.

The College Republicans shot back that a neo-fascist government rules China and they have never been friends with the United States and therefore the U.S. should align with Taiwan.

Cook rebutted, “They are an ancient culture, and we shouldn’t expect their policies to align with that of Western culture.”

The debate also took a look at the Cardinals’ proposed ballpark and the public financing of such an operation. “Why should the public spend $200 million to help this private business?” asked Woody.

Chambers rebutted, “If this doesn’t happen, it is possible that the team could go to East St. Louis or St. Charles.”

As the debate came to a close, the participants answered questions from the small but vocal audience.