Mike Allegrezza (junior-biochemistry and molecular biology), a Phillies fan, chose to forgo game five of the World Series to become more informed about some of the most pressing issues in the upcoming election.
"You need to understand the issues before you can choose a candidate," he said.
He said he wanted to stay to learn more about health care -- the last issue discussed after ethics, energy and environment, and economy -- because it was the issue he knew the least about.
About 50 students made up the sparse crowd at the Schreyer Honors College event in the HUB-Robeson Center Monday night and dwindled to about 20 at the end of the forum.
"To be fair, we had a fair amount of competition tonight," Brady said, citing the Phillies game, Former NCAA basketball coach Bobby Knight's visit and various Thon activities.
Sean Meloy, president of College Democrats, and Sam Settle of the College Republicans were present to provide information and answer questions about how the issues relate to the Democratic and Republican campaigns.
Jonathan Marks, associate professor of bioethics, spoke about the ethics of voting urged the crowd to utilize their ability to vote and learn of the issues that have an effect worldwide, adding that he isn't able to vote in the United States because he is British.
Marks said Americans' freedom shouldn't be taken for granted and some countries are required by law to vote, while other can't vote at all.
"With that right to vote comes great responsibility," Marks said, adding that America has a great impact on other parts of the world. "There are real problems in the world and the U.S. has potential to fix them."
Along with ethics, energy and the environment were discussed. David Meredith, associate professor of general engineering at the Fayette Campus, discussed several of the energy options the nation has and how each of them should be explored.
The most important question regarding energy and the environment now, he said, is "what direction do we take from here?"
Meredith said the country should start focusing upon the use of natural power such as wind turbines, solar panels and hydropower.
"If we don't [use] all our options, we're going to fall behind," Meredith said.
James Binney, lecturer in political science, spoke about the economy, telling students that college is a good place to be during economic problems. But, he added, the nation's economic system is not completely "broken."
"The President really only has so much power in this realm," Binney said, because of policy lags. "The economy is a complicated animal."
Dennis Scanlon, associate professor of health policy and administration, discussed healthcare and said the major problems, currently, are cost, quality and access to health insurance. Scanlon said it was fitting that healthcare was the last issue to be discussed at the forum because it is also an issue that gets pushed to the end of the agenda in campaigns.
"It received some attention but not as much as ... other policies," Scanlon said.
Brady ended the non-partisan event explaining how he answered a question his daughters asked about the difference between Democrats and Republicans.
"We want the best for our country and our people," Brady said. "How we get there is what we fight about."
