Centre College prepares for debate

DANVILLE, Ky. -- Today marks the only Vice Presidential Debate in this year's election cycle. They will debate at 9 p.m. EDT today. Both vice presidential candidates, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and former defense secretary and Republican Dick Cheney, will debate in a town hall forum at Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts.\nFor months, Centre College has been preparing for the historic day. \n"Up until this week, we've led pretty normal lives," President John Roush said.\nThe school began lobbying for the debate in the summer of 1998 through the Commission on Presidential Debates. They were notified of their selection in January. Since then, the small Kentucky liberal arts college has been preparing for its highest-profile event.\nSenior Allison Elliott, public relations intern for the debates, said Centre has been planning for more than a year for tonight's debate. \n"It's steadily been intensifying," she said. "I'm pretty much living in the Media Hall right now."\nAs a Centre student, she said she is pleased with the outpouring of support from her fellow classmates. "We have volunteers handling all sorts of functions, from directing traffic, being runners for the major network affiliates, to answering phone," she said.\nAnn Young, director of student life and volunteer service, said volunteers have the potential to "make or break" tonight's success. \n"You have to be very adaptable and flexible," she said. "So many things couldn't be handled until the last minute, so this has been a massive effort by the volunteers."\nYoung said about 600 people are donating their time. About half are students and the other half include faculty and community members. Prior to being designated to a post, interested individuals filled out applications and indicated the area they wished to contribute to. Young also said two training sessions were held, where information about the debate and the college could be gathered.\nYoung said she wasn't surprised at the high turnout. \n"Centre always has hundreds of students volunteering for various organizations throughout the year," she said.\nRichard Trollinger, vice president of college relations and co-chair of the debate steering committee, said the debate has been somewhat of a celebration of the democratic process, despite any inconveniences it has caused.\n"It's been disruptive to everything on campus, but it's also a great learning experience," he said.\nAccording to its Web site, 60 percent of students at Centre College volunteer in the local Danville area. Forty percent of students play in one of 22 varsity sports and 30 percent belong to an intramural or club sport. More than half of the student body studies abroad as well.\nSenior Bryan Rich spent the past week placing fences around the campus and giving tours of the college and debate hall to local elementary and middle school children.\n"It's been real exciting," he said. "This is the biggest thing to ever happen here, and we're just trying to get things done successfully."\nDespite the abundance of volunteers, the week hasn't been easy for them. Volunteers typically arrive on campus around 8 a.m. and usually don't leave until midnight, Young said.\n"I have some friends that are actually really involved and they have been missing a lot of classes because of their jobs they've had during the debate," said Jennifer Rhorer, a sophomore.\nShe said the influx of television cameras has become second nature to students. \n"Over the past week we've just learned to walk on past, its not a big deal," she said.\nRoush echoed how draining the week has been for some individuals, but he also noted his pride in the student body. He said about 600 students are either registered Democrats or Republicans, leaving more than 60 percent of the campus politically involved.\n"This is not a place with political apathy," he said. "They were always engaged in it."\nRoush said once the campus transforms back to normal, remembrances of tonight's event will be ever-present.\n"The list of heroes is just too long to mention," he said. "There are a ton of people who stepped up and put in tons of energy"