Political groups debate

Students from opposing political groups met and engaged in a
heated discussion about domestic and international issues Thursday
on campus in the first of three debates this academic year.

The debate, polite but marked by witty banter, was put on by the
Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans to increase understanding
among UCLA students about issues regarding labor, public health
care and immigration.

“It was a lively and a much-needed discussion on current
issues,” said Gregory Moeck, a third-year computer science
student and panelist for the Bruin Republicans.

The two groups took opposing stances on the problems facing the
nation and their solutions throughout the debate.

One topic that divided the students was the use of free
trade.

David Lazar, a third-year economics student and panelist for the
Bruin Republicans, argued that free trade benefits countries
because it leads to lower prices on consumer goods and economic
growth.

Though Gabe Rose, a second-year political science and
communication studies student and panelist for the Bruin Democrats,
acknowledged these benefits, he countered that free trade should
still be restricted because it creates job loss for Americans,
unsafe working conditions for laborers overseas, and environmental
damages.

The free-trade argument stemmed from President Bush’s
recent trip to the Americas Summit, a two-day meeting among 34
leaders in the Americas. At the summit, Bush unsuccessfully tried
to establish free-trade relations with Latin America.

Another labor issue that the panelists disagreed on was
Wal-Mart’s worker policies.

The company violates laborers’ rights because it gives low
wages, poor health-insurance plans and prevents workers from
forming unions, said Katie Tokushige, a third-year English student
and panelist for the Bruin Democrats,

“It’s immoral (that) the way they (got to their
current success) is by taking away basic human rights,” she
said.

John Ellis, a fourth-year economics student and a panelist for
the Bruin Republicans, argued back that Wal-Mart benefits consumers
because it sells goods at lower prices compared with other
supermarkets.

Another domestic issue that polarized the two groups was over
granting public health care to all citizens.

Tristan Reed, a second-year economics student and a panelist for
the Bruin Democrats, said some people avoid having surgeries
because of high insurance premiums.

The answer to this problem, he said, is that the government
should raise taxes to provide universal health care to all
citizens.

But Moeck said public health care is not the solution, since it
would “cause longer waiting periods and less contact with
doctors.”

The way to reduce high insurance costs, he said, is to prevent
“frivolous lawsuits” against doctors that cause high
premiums.

Though the two sides often had dissimilar views on the topics,
they were able to find some common ground on immigration. Panelists
agreed that illegal immigration needed to be curbed, but differed
on how the problem should be approached.

The government should pressure Mexican President Vicente Fox to
limit illegal immigration, said Kristian Kanya, a first-year
political science student and panelist for the Bruin
Republicans.

Other groups that need to be pressured are the employers, who
should determine workers’ citizenship status before hiring
them, and the local government, which should not grant
driver’s licenses and other benefits to illegal immigrants,
Kanya said.

But Kyle Kleckner, a panelist for the Bruin Democrats and a
second-year political science student, said the U.S. cannot rely on
Mexico for restricting illegal immigration.

The answer is to increase border security by assigning more
agents, which the “Bush administration and the Republican
Party has failed at,” he said.