Wake Forest hosts online debate project for high schools

The project began Sept. 5 and may be accessed through the university’s Web site or directly at http://linking.wfu.edu.

“We hope to educate and excite these students about political issues and the electoral process so that when they are of voting age, they will be informed, engaged voters,” said Martha Allman, the “Linking Debatable Issues” coordinator.

The students are from A.P. classes at high schools from Alaska to Florida. The A.P. program allows high school students to earn college credit for taking upper-level classes.

Using the Internet, students involved in “Linking Debatable Issues” are exploring 12 presidential campaign issues identified by the Wake Forest political science department. Those issues are: presidential debates, campaign finance reform, taxes, U.S. foreign policy interventions, weapons control, regulating technology and telecommunications, healthcare and social security, civil rights and affirmative action, immigration, education, world trade and economic policy, and Middle East relations.

The A.P. project students completed an online survey about their opinions on each issue at the beginning of the course, and will be surveyed periodically throughout the project. The results of those surveys will be posted on the project’s Web site.

The students will also participate in several online events including threaded discussions moderated by the university’s faculty.

The public is invited to visit http://linking.wfu.edu to read about the campaign issues and explore the student polling results. The site also offers links from campaign issue headings to political content sites recommended by Wake Forest faculty members. It also features course materials from course packets from three university classes that are studying the campaign. That section includes comprehensive source listings for students and teachers interested in further political research.

Faculty members from the following Wake Forest departments and divisions are involved in the project: political science, communication, economics, international studies, history, religion, the School of Law and the Babcock Graduate School of Management. Two 1999 Wake Forest graduates who now work in the university’s information systems department wrote the polling software for the project.

Wake Forest is using technology to provide several additional educational programs leading up to and during the Oct. 11 presidential debate scheduled to take place in university landmark Wait Chapel.

Wake Forest has been nationally recognized for its use of technology since the 1996 launch of a technology initiative that provides all students with laptop computers and printers. The initiative has also increased the role of the Internet in the academic curriculum. Yahoo! Internet Life magazine has ranked Wake Forest 19th among America’s “Most Wired” universities and research schools.