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Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: AUSTIN COFFEY

On Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. the University held its second President's Speaker Series event in the IC Auditorium. Florida Senate candidate and former Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) was the special guest for last week's event.

At this town hall forum the audience was a mixture of ERAU staff and students as well as local Daytona Beach citizens. This event was also covered by a radio talk program on 1150AM WNDB, which allowed listeners tuning in to the station to also participate in the event.

Topics that were covered ranged from heath care to the high-speed rail that President Barack Obama is visiting the state to review. Also discussed were Veterans Affairs benefits, and the topics that had been announced for the State of the Union Address that took place later that night.

During the question and answer section of the evening, two ERAU students in the audience were able to pose their questions to the Senator. A student who identified herself as Stephanie was able to ask the Senator about his thoughts on the recent decision that the Supreme Court made on Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission. The Senator's response to the question was that the court made the correct constitutional vote.

Another ERAU student, identified as Richard, asked about the funding for the Space Program that is being looked at for governmental funding cuts. In response to this question, Smith showed his support for the space program and explained how this program creates jobs and growth in Florida.

He also added, "I hope not to see those cuts come down, because there is a lot of exciting things coming down from NASA."

Student Government Association President Bryan Dietz, who was in attendance, commented about the event, stating, "It was very interesting and unique. This is also a chance to find the solutions for the problem with the people who make the decisions."

Dietz also added that he invites more students to come out to the next event. The next town hall forum will be held on Feb. 16 in the College of Aviation Atrium. It will start at 5:30 p.m. and run to 7:00 p.m. On this night the University will be welcoming Washington columnists Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford.

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