Project Vote Smart and The University of Arizona will co-sponsor a series of seven monthly breakfast debates at the Arizona Inn, bringing together experts on a variety of local and national issues such as the economy, transportation, the Electoral College, space research, mandatory sentencing, judicial activism and the incoming presidential administration.
The "Off the Record" debates will be held on the second Wednesday of every month starting Wednesday.
Some of the Tucson community's most distinguished leaders are hosting the events, and several will participate as debaters, including:
Each debater will be given 15 minutes to outline his or her position, have five minutes for rebuttal and then take questions from the audience. The debates will be held at the Arizona Inn with a full breakfast served at 7 a.m. and the debates starting at 7:30 a.m. The public is invited to attend for the cost of the breakfast but must make reservations.
The goal of the debate series is to stimulate interest and an informed civic dialogue around some of the issues confronting policymakers and the public in the coming year.
In January 2007, Project Vote Smart opened a research center in a small house on the UA campus. It's the only such center located outside the organization's rural Montana headquarters.
The UA site allows Project Vote Smart, the independent, non-partisan citizens group nationally known for its voter education tools, to recruit student interns and volunteers year-round.
Interns commit to working at least 135 hours during their internship. While many of the interns are predictably political science majors, UA students studying journalism, science, history, sociology and other disciplines also have chosen to intern at Project Vote Smart.
For information or to make a reservation for the breakfast debates call Project Vote Smart at 520-626-8752.
Mia Ybarra
520-626-8752