"It drives me nuts! It just makes me want to rip someone's face off," shouted Todd Taylor, chairman of the College Republicans, as last night's debate became heated.

About 65 people turned out to the Tyson Building to watch the College Democrats and College Republicans "rip each others' faces off."

The debate, which focused on the war in Iraq, gay marriage and English as the country's official language, was sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Despite the strong language, Saalim Carter, political action chairman of NAACP, said his goal was to hold an intelligent and informative discussion.

"With the election coming up, the NAACP wanted to stand out as a political activism club," said Carter.

Jack Vickrey (senior-agricultural business management) said he found some of the comments made in the debate absurd, but enjoyed it anyway.

"Someone could have come here and learned something new," Vickrey said.

On the first issue, the College Republicans reminded the audience of the obstacles that the party's leadership has faced, including the war on Iraq. They cited the need to "stay the course" despite American casualties.

"We must have a plan to get out of there," Jim Coder, who debated for the College Democrats, said. "Americans are getting killed. Iraqis are getting killed, and nothing's getting done."

Taylor charged that despite promises, Democrats had no concrete plan.

"This timetable nonsense is all about racking up political points," he said.

Gay marriage was also a subject of intense debate. The College Democrats argued for marriage of gays on the basis of individual rights and said bans were infringing upon those rights.

"They banned it, but that doesn't mean it's right. Slavery was allowed for a while, but that doesn't mean slavery was right," Coder said.

Although the party's official stance opposes gay marriage, every Republican has a different opinion, said College Republican Amanda Sponsler.

"There's great diversity of opinion in the Republican Party," she said.

Laura Burlingame, president of the Penn State Libertarians, said she liked that there was a convergence of ideas between the parties.

"There's a political shift coming in the way the Republicans are expressing openness to new ideas," Burlingame said.

The debate concluded with discussion of mandating English as the country's official language.

Republicans argued there should be legislation in this direction.

"In our very polarized society, one of the best things that English does is unite us," Taylor said.

Democrats said there is no need for legislation and cited the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.

"It's 'give me your weak, give me your tired masses,' not give me your people who can speak English fluently," Coder said.

However, both groups came together on the need for greater foreign language education.

"Sometimes we do things that are different just for the sake of being different," Coder said. "We need to find the things we agree on and go with them."