Joseph Sweeney (R), running for U.S. representative in District 7, said he wants to amend the laws regulating the Peace Corps to allow foreign students to receive funding to return to work in their home countries



Joseph Sweeney (R), running for U.S. representative in District 7, said he wants to amend the laws regulating the Peace Corps to allow foreign students to receive funding to return to work in their home countries

Ariz. candidates make their cases at Hillel

By Mitra Taj
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, September 23, 2004
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In an attempt to gain student support, six candidates running for local office spoke to students at a Meet the Candidates forum last night.

About 50 people attended the forum, sponsored by Hillel, the College Republicans and the Young Democrats.

The event was meant to engage students who tend to focus only on presidential elections and ignore local races, said Jeremy Tor, a senior majoring in Spanish and political science, who organized the event.

"A lot of people go into the voting booth and vote for the president, when they have 10 other offices to vote for," Tor said. "Local elections affect us much more immediately than national elections do."

Tor said a lot of campus groups have focused their activities on voter registration, overlooking another important factor in getting young people out to vote - familiarity with the candidates and issues.

"It's crucial that students meet the candidates one-on-one to see who they are," he said.

Candidates talked to students about their main concerns and how they affect students.

[Excerpt]

Joseph Sweeney (R), running for U.S. representative in District 7, said he wants to amend the laws regulating the Peace Corps to allow foreign students to receive funding to return to work in their home countries.

Sweeney said it's important for students to "get the power of your vote back because it's been taken away by the corporations."

He called for a return to grassroots politics and a change in immigration policy. He said 10 million people come into the country illegally each year, and only 1 million go through the naturalization process.

"There's illegality all over the country on this issue," Sweeney said. "You can see why we're in chaos right now."

When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before. Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security.

Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny?

Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and can you come up with a Political Funny?

Read the stories and leave your comments.