In 1962, when he was just 23, Kurt Liske was in the first Peace Corps mission to the northern African nation of Tunisia
Area residents discuss issues for PBS special
`Time to Choose' will focus on what voters find most important
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
CLEVELAND - In 1962, when he was just 23, Kurt Liske recalled being among the early volunteers in the Peace Corps.
Now a retired teacher from Hudson, Liske said he was in the first Peace Corps mission to the northern African nation of Tunisia. He was drawn there because he wanted to experience how other people lived and to teach them about his own life in the United States, he said.
``I feel it's so important to get diverse experiences in life. It's important, if we're ever going to move toward living safely and living effectively in this world,'' he said.
The chance for a similarly diverse experience, he said, was precisely what drew him to Case Western Reserve University on Saturday along with about 100 other Northeast Ohio residents.
They were randomly chosen by polling groups to discuss issues vital to the upcoming presidential election for a nationwide Public Broadcasting Service segment titled Time to Choose: A By the People Election Special.
The two-hour special, which will feature taped segments from 16 additional cities, will not focus on the candidates themselves, but on issues of importance to the electorate.
It will be televised on WVIZ (Channel 25) on Oct. 28, beginning at 8 p.m. with a cross section of national views and opinions, followed at 9 p.m. by opinions and views specifically from Saturday's gathering in Cleveland.
Liske said he found the PBS concept ``fascinating'' because it stimulated critical and independent thinking.
``What impressed me is what can happen when a group of people come together and have opportunities to share ideas and interact,'' he said. ``I've served on a jury a couple of times, and I've had just a marvelous experience of being part of mainstream America coming together to grapple with a problem.
``The group I was in for these discussions was (very similar). It was a cross section of different people, a real melting pot of backgrounds,'' thinking freely and critically without the influences of Madison Avenue television advertising, he said.
Topics of the various 10-member discussion groups, each headed by a moderator, were the role of American jobs in a global economy -- how those jobs are affected by taxes, foreign trade and outsourcing -- and national security issues.
