USD Magazine, Fall 1996

UNIVERSITY OF SAM DIEGO 1 9 9 6 PRESIDENTIAL D11 Al E Facing Facts Some of the minutia surrounding the debate Temperature of Shiley Theatre during the broadcast: 65 degrees

member task force to coordinate the myriad details the university would oversee, including how to involve students, how to accommodate the 1,500 media who would cover the debate, and how to complete nec– essary renovations and install air condition– ing in Shiley Theatre. Several weeks from D-day, plans were coming to fruition. Among them: •The Office of Community Service– Learning set up a database to match the tal– ents of the 600 student volunteers with the needs of the Commission, media and cam– pus departments. Students were enlisted for such wide-ranging tasks as serving as stand-ins for President Clinton and Bob Dole during sound, camera and light checks, assisting the media during produc– tion and acting as information officers for campus visitors. • Faculty and students developed classes, seminars and programs that explored poli– tics, the media and the debate process. Voter education programs and registration drives rounded out the educational events surrounding the debate. •The Hahn University Center Forum and main dining room were designated the media filing center - the location from which media would write and file their sto– ries electronically to their editors - and Spin Alley, where political representatives meet with the media to put their spin on the debate results. The public relations office organized work spaces, monitors and equipment for the visiting media. •Shiley Theatre underwent a complete renovation, including sophisticated stage lighting, auditorium seating, air condition– ing, and carpeting and footlighting in the aisles. • Administrators and students set up a site on the Internet that would hold the nation's first debate "webcast," a simulta– neous live video feed of the debate on the World Wide Web. •The Presidential Debate Host Robbins Jr., raised $615,000 from individ– ual and corporate sponsors. These funds would help offset the cost of producing the debate and the theater renovations required by the Commission. • Because few people would fit into the theater once the debate set was built, alter- Committee, headed by USD trustees Darlene Marcos Shiley and John M.

nate events and viewing sites were set up for students, faculty, staff and USD friends. A luncheon for the San Diego cor– porate community would feature a panel discussion on debates moderated by Sam Donaldson. A finale for the DebateWatch '96 voter education program would be cele– brated at USD on debate night. Finally, a critical moment in the planning process. Three weeks from D-day, USD officials were working furiously and still no contract had been signed between the Commission and the Republican and Democratic parties. With no contract, no debate would take place. USD administra– tors wearily remembered similar circum– stances four years earlier, but stifled their concerns. Jack Cannon began an around-the-clock vigil, staying in frequent - at times, hourly - contact with the Commission as negotiations continued, then broke down, then resumed. Variously, the details of the debate were in jeopardy, including the date. It was possible that even if USD were to host a debate, the date might change, meaning many debate events would have to be redrawn on very short notice. On Sept. 28, the Democrat and Republican parties finally signed the contract. Though the date did not change, one important detail did - the format. Instead of a traditional debate with a single moder– ator, the USD debate would take the town hall format. That meant the theater, which had been completed days earlier, would have to undergo further changes to accom– modate a stage that could hold two candi– dates and up to 120 town hall representa– tives. Ten rows of new seating were removed, the stage was extended 38 feet and the Commission arrived to begin build– ing the set eight days before the debate. On the following pages, we provide a glimpse of USD on the final days leading up to the debate. It was a heady time for everyone on campus and we hope for alumni as well. As Cannon welcomed the audience in Shiley Theatre on Oct. 16, he addressed alumni who were viewing the telecast worldwide: "We know you are as proud of us as we are of you," he said, "and so we give you this legacy: History in the Making."

Length of stage extension for the town hall format: 38 feet

Audience seats inside Shiley Theatre: 375

Town hall seats on stage: 113

Photographers inside Shiley Theatre: 18

Students viewing the debate from the Sports Center gym: 2,000 Media who covered the debate from USD's campus: 1,500

Shortest print deadline after the debate: Less than an hour Work spaces inside the media filing center: 450

Television monitors inside the media filing center: 85

Student volunteers for the debate: 600

Additional local, state and federal public safety officers on duty for the debate: 425 Temporary telephone lines installed across campus: 1,200 Meals served on campus the day of the debate: 7,000 Winner of the First Lady cookie contest on campus: Hillary's chocolate chip cookies

The students erected a Wall DI Hope, a mural DI social and political commentary.

- Trisha J. Ratledge

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