Presidential Debate - Daniel Frederick

The first of many Presidential debates this year was a memorable one. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump attacked one another on policy, past actions, and personal beliefs and while at times both were acting in a defensive manner, they managed to hold a somewhat coherent debate. This event is significant in that it impacts the voter’s perspective of either candidate to a rather high degree, allowing one to analyze what either candidate’s strengths or weaknesses are.

In regards to Hillary Clinton’s performance, she was highly composed, articulate, and often straight to the point. Her greatest strengths would include her specificity of policy toward certain topics, such as the economy and job creation, while highlighting the negative aspects of Mr. Trump’s “plans”, and her ability to remain moderate on a variety of issues in order to cater to a wider audience, which could create a significant amount of support for her campaign and candidacy. The most concerning weaknesses she presented in the debate revolved around her character and attitude, specifically in her dismissal of several of Mr. Trump’s comments, although to her credit, she did remain calm and patient whenever Donald Trump would interrupt her speaking time. Another weakness of Hillary Clinton’s was the rehearsed nature of her many responses to certain questions or comments, creating the feeling that much of her performance was scripted, which can create a barrier between her and potential voters. The former Secretary of State also did not participate in much cross-examination, which is an essential component of a debate.

For Donald Trump’s performance, one must give him credit for remaining fairly restrained from making ridiculous claims, and for highlighting controversial events within the US political system. His strengths include his ability to relate to a wide audience that feels disenfranchised, misrepresented, and is responsive to fear, as well as how he accentuated the fact that the Democratic National Committee was a large factor in limiting or preventing Bernie Sanders from becoming the Democratic Party nominee, which led to a series of resignations within the DNC. While Mr. Trump had an overabundance of flaws and weaknesses, the greatest must be his lack of expansion on his policy proposals, specifically in regards to tax rates, the creation of jobs, and cutting taxes, and how he often provides non-topical evidence when asked a discussion question. The Republican candidate’s behavior was highly unacceptable due to the many occasions he disrupted his opponent, which resulted in a negative depiction of himself.

Overall, Hillary Clinton was the clear winner of the debate. This is because she remained composed, calm, and focused to both the prompt questions and the responses Donald Trump gave. She did not veer away from her topics or policies, and appropriately addressed the issues at hand with evidence, unlike her Republican counterpart.

Sexual Assault on Campus

Ben Sollinger and Izzy Lobin

Raising awareness on the problem of campus sexual assault is necessary in order to preserve the safety of young students. Not only does an increased awareness help in terms of safety but also helps in terms of getting the assaulter persecuted. By educating the college student populace about rape on campus, campuses would become much safer because of increased caution. Education on this subject is necessary not only for prevention, but also for post-assault recovery processes. By educating students, they may be able to help peers who are victims.  At the same time, a better knowledge of the threat could allow for students to better advocate for policy reforms on campus. So all in all, the main way to not only raise awareness, but allow for people to emphasize and support survivors is to create a better education of campus sexual assault.

End Rape On Campus (EROC) was founded in 2013 by Annie Clarke and Sofie Karasek. The main goal of EROC is to end sexual assault on campuses. EROC was founded by survivors of sexual assault and attempts to reach its goal of ending all sexual assault on campuses through several means. The organization works with survivors and campus communities, and also creates policy reform throughout all levels, from school to federal. EROC is supported and sponsored by public donations and primarily by NEO Philanthropy, which is a nonprofit in New York City. The primary way EROC is seen in the news is through the movie The Hunting Ground, which features several of the staff members from the EROC team. This has allowed EROC to be invited to many events featuring The Hunting Ground, and therefore get their message out through those invites.

Presidential Debate - Matthew Reynolds

This 1st presidential debate was unlike any other. Trump vs. Clinton was a heated, bickering, dog fight. They both seemed to play defense throughout the entirety of the debate, but they manage to hone in certain topics such as crime, national security, and the economy. As the debate went on, it was clear that the two candidates had both strengths and weaknesses.

While Trump seemed frantic at times, Clinton kept her composure. She seemed very well prepared as she let any attack Trump had planned for her go through one ear, and out the other. This was an overwhelming strength apposed to Trump. The second area of strength for Clinton again involved her solid preparation. With every questioned asked, she had a clear, well-thought response with factually based evidence. This preparation was also a fault. She had planned out her arguments to the point that they were spoken robotically. Lastly, Clinton appeared to be in control as Trump kept taking shots at her, making it seem that Clinton is the leader of the two. But, she missed a glaring opportunity to expose him. Clinton didn't seize her chance to fully expose Trump for not paying his federal taxes.

Trump's greatest strength is his ability to understand and manipulate the media. His syntax is simple, enabling all to understand thoroughly, and is quite the entertainer. His next strength is his ability to relate and appeal. He reinstated on many occasions that he is a business man before a politician. For a nation that has an estimated $19.3 million in debt, this will drew much attention. Trump's biggest weakness was how he blatantly ignored Lester's question. He would simply not answer the prompts by ranting and attacking something else. Also, Trump would make claims, and be unable to back them up with facts.

Clinton was the clear winner of the 1st debate. She kept her cool, answered the questions thoroughly, and did a better job with the literal debate.

presidential debate -Griffin Gallas

Hillary Clinton:

S-Has support from lower class, wanting to lower minimum wage

S-Understands need to trade with foreign affairs (other 95% of world)

W-Upper class vote is unlikely for Clinton who wants to increase tax for the rich

W-Lost a lot of voters trust getting caught deleting 30,000 emails

In my opinion the presidential debate was won by Hillary Clinton. Trump not only was unprofessional as usual interrupting Clinton frequently but he tends to speak around questions trying not to answer them. Clinton kept her professionalism while explaining to the viewers what her plan is to do if in office. She did it in a way easy to understand while sounding somewhat trustworthy.

Donald Trump:

S-Has support from American owned companies

S-Knows how to run a business, claiming to have $600 million in revenue through his company

W-Trump is in top 1% of country who also benefited from the big crash (this isn't liked by lower class voters)

W-Wants to trade with foreign affairs as little as possible, causes many economic problems

Presidential Debate- Jake Urdangen

The presidential debate overall, was…iffy. There were lots of times while watching where I either laughed out loud, or slowly shook my head in discourage. If I had to share my opinion on who won, Hilary, the Democratic nominee presented as composed and commanding, ticking through her policy prescriptions while landing a series of devastating blows on Donald Trump. She attacked him a ton, and got after his lack of readiness. One area of strength to Clinton, was probably when she was talking about the economy. Clinton moved from the start to stick Trump in his softest spot: his business dealings. In her second answer, she explained their differing approaches to the economy as the product of their “different perspectives.” While she was raised in a middle-class family, she said, Trump started out in the real-estate business with $14 million in loans from father. Trump maintains he only received a small fraction of that amount, keying in on the fact that he is snotty. That was a really strong point by Hilary, because it shows that Trump didn’t really work for much in life, he was just handed money. Her other strength, was when the topic came to women. Right off the bat, she has an advantage because she is a woman. Clinton turned on Trump by stating, “You know, he tried to switch from looks to stamina. But this is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs,” she said. “And one of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them. And he called this woman Miss Piggy. Then he called her Miss Housekeeping, because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. And she just became a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she is going to vote this November.” I thought that was a smack to the face by Hilary. While she did have her power, Trump had his moments. Especially at the beginning, the opening section of the debate, which tends to be its most-watched portion. From his ideas about business, Trump promised that we as a country wouldn’t be outsmarted by companies. He promised, with his trademark bluster and imprecision, to get tough on those responsible at home and abroad. Another strength was he said that he’s “developed very, very good relationships over the last little while with the African-American community. I guess that is good, knowing his history with being a careless jerk to Blacks. He had so many weakness’s, it was hard to count. One was when he was asked about lying about Obama’s years abroad, tried to blame Clinton for making up the story. A really poor move by him, and embarrassed himself when it was found that he just annoyed Obama into giving the people his birth certificate. He also lost altitude quickly after the first half hour, shifting from pointed interruptions to a more incoherent, sloppy pattern of interruption. It was counted to interrupting Clinton 51 times! There really weren’t that many weakness out of Hilary that I could remember. Trump got some good fan postivitiy when he said “Hillary’s got experience, but it’s bad experience.” That is the only bad part I could think of about Clinton. So like stated before Clinton definetly won this debate.

 

Michael Schroeder - Debate Respone

I think that Hillary Clinton did a very good job coming to the debate prepared. She was always ready to respond to all of the questions. A bad thing that I think she did during this debate was not really answer questions at all. That is typical of candidates to do, but that especially upset me when I was really curious to what her answer was going to be. I think that she also did a very good job saying stuff, and saying it in a way which was meant to get Trump mad. She would egg him on to burst, and he would. She successfully made him lose his cool and look less presidential. She did a really nice job of not interrupting Trump too much when he was talking, and coming off as more intelligent. I don’t think that she did a good job with the emails during this debate though. She completely ignored everything that Trump said about them, even after just asking him about his not released tax returns.

Trump did a nice job attacking Hillary during this debate. He didn’t spin questions well though. A successful candidate typically needs to be able to take a question, and make the answer to that question favorable to them and bad to their opponent. Trump didn’t seem like he could do that during this debate. He also did a very nice job of coming off as a regular person. Clinton seemed very scripted, and like a life long politician. Trump did better being more like the American people. He needs to start acting presidential. He hasn’t acted that way yet. He’s used to everything he wants in life to be handed to him, and for him to automatically be the one in charge, even when he has no qualifications. He needs to act mature and act official. He can’t continue lying like he does now. If he doesn’t know something, or anything, he thinks that he can make up any fact he wants that make him look good. That’s something most kids learn they aren’t supposed to do when they are still in elementary school.

I think that Clinton just narrowly won this debate. She had the higher hand for most of the time, and acted much more presidential. She did continue to avoid her scandal for some reason, but she did back up her points with actual facts, unlike Trump.

Michael Schroeder - Hunting Ground Video Diary

Rape and sexual assault are major problems in America, especially on college campuses. Young people are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get an education which is believed to make them be more successful adults, but colleges can’t even ensure their safety. They also are almost always not willing to do anything to help out victims and survivors. Society needs to stand strong with survivors. That has been a hard thing to do in practice, since in America everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We need to support survivors, and definitely not make them feel as if they are the ones at all at fault. There needs to be better support groups and institutions to help out victims. The terrible stigma behind rape victims needs to go away, they need support and comfort, not more fear and shame.

Know Your IX was founded in 2013 by Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky. They were both sexually assaulted when they attended college. The organization seeks to let students know that men and woman have a right to an education rid of violence against a certain gender under the Title IX act. They also are trying to influence reform of the Title IX act so that it treats student victims better. This organization is funded almost exclusively through public donations. Know Your IX published a very controversial guide for journalists on how to write about gender violence. Some media agencies wrote of this as helpful and necessary, while other criticized it for being only in support of the alleged victim and never considering the alleged attacker as innocent.

Presidential Debate- Jacob Greifer

The first presidential debate provided some good insight for the American people about their candidates to run this country. Regarding Trump, he came off as more of an authentic, regular person, rather than a politician. His answers usually sounded more candid, compared to Hillary who's almost sounded rehearsed. I think this creates a connection between Trump and voters, and is a big reason why people are voting for him. Trump also did a good job of referencing his past business successes for his future economic plans. He made it clear that he is capable of bringing economic success to America. However, Trump seemed to be defending himself the entire debate. Topics concerning his taxes, payment of former workers, and comments on women made him continuously end up on the wrong end of arguments. Also, this lead to him getting unsettled, losing his composure many times, as well as blatantly lying or avoiding questions.

Trump's two weaknesses can be credited to Hillary's performance. She was constantly highlighting controversial statements/moments of Trump, getting him off track with the debate. Unlike Trump, she was able to keep her cool too. Often rudely interrupted, she never stooped to Trumps level, making her look more professional and presidential. Like I said earlier, one of her weaknesses was how scripted she sounded. It's good that she was prepared, but her answers didn't seem entirely genuine. This is what many people worry about with politicians. She also looked bad when Trump brought up her praise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which could hurt her from an economic stance.

Overall, I think Hillary won the debate. She controlled it, and got Trump out of his zone and more into what people know him as: an angry and obnoxious man. This made her look just as good as it did him bad. She had more answers to questions that were asked, that were provided by details of what her plans would consist of.

Sofia Chaudruc - Presidential Debate

Donald Trump
Strengths-
1) Assertive/aggressive
Trump clearly won the perceptual debate, he spoke the most words, used assertive hand gestures, spoke in a sharp tone, talked whenever he could, and totally dominated Clinton throughout the debate... Perceptually. Not everything is about the aesthetic of the debate, content and intellectuality are just as important, but to dumber Americans, Trump may take the cake.

2) Knows a lot about Clinton
It almost seemed that Trump had a negative anecdote about Clinton whenever she said something progressive or positive. This did make Clinton almost seem like she had some part in every bad thing that happened while Bill Clinton was president or while she was Secretary of State, which associates her negatively with politics. He does a pretty good job at pinning her as a the bad/evil candidate, I mean that is one of his first lines of offense.

Weaknesses-
1) General plans/vague answers 
Whenever asked a question, Trump would diverge away from a direct answer or give a very vague one backed up with little to no facts/information. He would have to be asked the question again by Lester which made him seem underprepared or nervous or like he was trying to hide his true feelings about the topic. He also gave limited facts/statistics to back up his claims and plans for the future of this country, compared to Clinton.

2) Too cocky/overbearing
Trump is a very commanding candidate who can't seem to wait his turn. While I put his assertiveness and aggressiveness as a strength, it eventually gets to a point of cockiness. His tone is always rude and loud, he never takes a step back to let his opponent speak or to assess the situation/think about what he will say next. It seems like he's just talking to talk and dominate Clinton, not to get educated points across.

Hillary Clinton
Strengths- 
1) Prepared/intellectual
For every question, Clinton had a very well thought out answer and would always tie her anecdotes/facts/ideas to the future. She is a very progressive candidate who is thinking about America's future and is being realistic about it. She had many statistics to back up her claims, it made her sound intelligent and seem like she had the most knowledge to be president.

2) Detailed plans
She has a detailed plan for America when it comes to practically every category (healthcare, education, jobs, debt, taxes, etc...) Trump especially lacked this skill while Hillary has always looked towards the future and has already thought out prepositions. She is viewed as an organized and prepared candidate and people know those are good skills to have while in office.

Weaknesses-
1) Let Trump talk over her
Trump is a very dominating and stubborn opponent who is not easy to debate. Clinton (and Lester) allowed him to go over his time for speeches and talk over Hillary, even if she was answering one of his questions. She did try and talk over him when he interjected but he was just too aggressive and loud. This weakness is mostly not her fault but really effected the debate perceptually.

2) Over prepared
Although I put detailed plans as a strength for Clinton, she sounds very intellectual with the answers she provides throughout the debate, but she is not really appealing to the everyday American. People at home watching the debate want simple, clear cut answers almost all of the time. Trump targets that audience well while Clinton is almost doing too much and is over prepared.

Debate-Xavier Rivera

Hillary Clinton

Strengths-  Hillary was better prepared than Trump.
                - She had composure and she got Trump to take the "bait" and made him look less presidential.

Weaknesses-  She came off over prepared and started sounding like an encyclopedia.
                     - She is unworthy of trust because of the e-mail scandal.

Donald Trump

Strengths-  Very strong the first 20 or so minutes when he was engaged.
                - He really stated the role of the outsider and how this country needs change.

Weakness- Didn't take advantage of Hillary's email scandals.
                 - Spent too much time off topic and rambling on instead of attacking his opponent.

I believe Hillary won because she was definitely more prepared to talk about issues and her establish her position. Also because Trump was very off topic, inarticulate, and did his "charm". She demonstrated thoughtfulness and planning for each of her positions and she didn't get rattled she controlled the conversation. Also she won because of her mannerism and composure, while Trump was loud, disrespectful, and even corrected the facilitator.

Presidential Debate-Ayoub El Ashmawi

Donald Trump Strengths:
-I think Donald Trump did a great job keeping himself restrained for the most part. He was rude, but unlike his usual self, not constantly.
-I believe Donald Trump had a critical moment when heasked why Hillary would not release her emails. This was made worse for Hillary by her not answering.
Donald Trump Weaknesses:
-He did not back up his points with evidence. This is usual for Donald Trump, so I'm not sure this will affect support for him.
-He did nothing to earn the black vote, and on the contrary, he may have alienated blacks even further by suggesting stop and frisk be brought back.

Hillary Clinton Strengths:
-She made it clear that she had prepared for the debate. All of her points were backed up with evidence and she had a specific plan,unlike Trump.
-She did well to earn the black vote, by calling for criminal justice system reform,and harshly criticizing stop and frisk.
Hillary Clinton Weaknesses:
-It was clear that Hillary Clinton looked down on trump. She often laughed at Trump which made her come across as arrogant and disrespectful.
-She did not answer Trump's question about why she would not release her emails. She also brought up the hacking of the DNC, which I believe was a HUGE mistake, as the hacking of the DNC proved that she had an unfair advantage over her rival, Bernie Sanders.

Overall, I believe Hillary Clinton won this debate because of her preparedness and poise. It was A LOT closer than you might think though. While Clinton had evidence and was clearly more prepared than Trump, she made critical mistakes b avoiding answering Trump's question about releasing her emails and by shining a spotlight on the DNC hacking which sheds light on an unfair advantage she had in the Primaries.

Presidential Debate - Joshua O'Steen

The 1st presidential debate was a unique one. Trump and Clinton during the debate seemed to be defending themselves the whole time, but they were able to discuss the topics of crime, the economy, and others. As they did so, they showed obvious strengths and weaknesses which either helped them or cost them.

Clinton had very strong composure during the whole debate and kept her ‘cool’. She made sure that Trump didn’t get in her head and made sure that something he said wouldn’t incite anger from her. The second area of strength for Clinton was her ability to answer the questions with certainty and facts. She was very prepared coming into the debate and knew enough on each issue that was brought up. While her preparedness is a strength, it is also a weakness because she seemed to speak as though she were using a script. Furthermore, Clinton also didn’t go after Trump when she could have. Trump blatantly lied multiple times and brought up the fact that he doesn’t pay federal taxes. Clinton could have and should have attacked him at his weak points.

Speaking of Trump, he had some strengths and weaknesses at the debate. One of Trump’s greatest strengths is his speaking ability and understanding of the media. He is entertaining to watch and speaks simply, making it easier for people to understand and relate to him. Another one of Trump’s strengths was his ability to appeal to people’s beliefs. He would on countless occasions bring up the fact that he’s a businessman and not a politician which many people would honestly prefer. Also, he brought up Clinton’s emails in order to defend himself and make himself seem purer than Clinton. Two areas of weakness for Trump were that he avoided questions and then gave little to no evidence throughout the debate. Trump would consistently avoid questions by simply just not answering the question that was asked. Lester Holt on many occasions had to repeat the questions for Trump. Moreover, Trump, while making claims, wouldn’t back any of it up with actual facts or evidence.

Clinton, in my opinion, was the obvious winner of the debate because she did a better job at actually debating. She made claims, backed them up with evidence, and explained how they’re important to the American people and how she can help the American people with her policies. Trump did not do these things and therefore he lost the debate.

Presidential Debate - Ryan Harrison

Hilary did a good job of pointing out Donald Trump's contradictions in his business and presidential campaign. She also did a great job at appealing to the lower class. But I think she was not well prepared when speaking about the recent police shootings in our country, because she seemed to blabber on about nothing and had no specific plan. Hilary looked as if she didn't take Trump seriously and treated him like she was obviously superior, which does not look good for her. Trump did a good job of incorporating his business success into ways that he could help our economy. Trump did a good job of appealing to voters who have not been fully represented by the democratic party. Both candidates interrupted each other way more than they needed to and it seemed like an argument among children. Especially Donald Trump by just saying "not true" or "that never happened". I think that overall Hillary Clinton won the debate because Trump just made himself seem foolish and immature throughout the whole debate.

The Hunting Ground Assignment Michael Barrera and Quin Evans

1. The problem of sexual assault on college campus is a big deal. In order to raise awareness of this problem we must come together and speak about these issues. Through acknowledging the problem we can find a solution. As Americans we have the right of speech and assembly, through protest and petitions we can raise awareness.

2.
a.) The organization  EROC was founded by in 2013 by Annie E Clark and Andrea Pino.

b.)  EROC advocates for fair and adequate campus adjudication policies for sexual assault and interpersonal violence and for legislation on local, state, and federal levels.


C.) The organization EROC receives its findings by donations.

D.) EROC has been supported by the news, because the "USA Today" says that they need to change the adage "boys will be boys" and have them take responsibility.

Hunting ground video diary - Ryan Harrison

1. The music video represents many key points in “The Hunting Ground”. Many victims were not taken seriously and felt like no one believed them. That was represented in the video by a girl with “believe me” written on her arm. The graphic scenes greatly resemble the stories told by victims on college campuses. This also shows victims seeking help among their peers and joining together to stop the epidemic of college campus rape. Videos just like these will raise awareness among people who have not been directly affected by rape. The graphic and vivid scenes could make people realize how much of an issue this is.

2. The EROC organization was co-founded in 2013 by Annie E. Clark and Sofie Karasek. Their objectives are to end campus sexual violence through direct support for survivors, prevention through education, and by creating new policies to combat against the crime. EROC is a non profit organization that is funded mostly by donations. According to their website they have been portrayed in positive ways including being involved in articles with USA Today, The Huffington Post, and ESPNW.

Sexual Assault -Griffin and Jake

I do not think that awareness is necessarily the problem in terms of sexual assault and rape, the problem is within the system. Do not get me wrong the awareness is very important for people to understand these dehumanizing events and how they affect the victims. On the other hand the problem is the lack of help from universities during these situations that happen very often in college. Universities are paying people off to drop rape cases because they care more about the reputation of the school than the morals of their students. This is the problem that is happening way too often and needs to be addressed. More often than not, after a rape or any other sexual assault the victim feels way too scared to report anything. This is a problem on its own, but then to have a screwed system that the brave victims have to fight for someone to take them seriously is a bigger problem. It is important to spread awareness not only to kids entering college but to present these problems to school boards. It's time for the victims to stop having fingers pointed at them and start pointing them back.

Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER) is a nonprofit organization that was started in 2000 by Columbia University students. Their main objective is strengthening student-led movements that fight against sexual and interpersonal violence on campuses across the country. It is an all-volunteer collective, SAFER facilitates student organizing through a comprehensive training manual; in-person workshops and training. This organization is committed to social change through community mobilization, SAFER arms students with the tools needed to mobilize communities and make lasting change on campus. It is a great way for students on campus to feel more comfortable, and to be able know that they are safe from rapists taking them home without knowing. Rape is one of the worst crimes out there, and when there are people out here making organizations to lessen the cases, it helps the world a lot.

Hunting Ground Assignment - Ben Ellman and Xavi Rivera

1.  We can awareness about these cases by providing services where survivors can talk about their experiences and collaborate where they can come together and stand against rape. These groups can help provide ways in which rape victims can stand up against racism and provide ways in which they will make rape more serious and help make consequences for rape more serious and effective to the raper. Also they can raise awareness by having more survivors share there stories in order to make the conversation more open and to make people open up about their experiences and how they can work to prevent this from happening to others.

2. a. End Rape On Campus was founded by Annie E. Clark and Sophie Karasek. The organization was founded in 2013
b. The group wants to end all sexual violence on college campuses throughout the country. They aim to do this by influencing policy, supporting survivors, and educating the public about the issue. They want to ensure that every survivor is believed, trusted, and supported in order to prevent further harm
c. The organization is non-profit. They are sponsored by NEO Philanthropy, and are able to receive donations from the public
d. EROC contributors have been present in the news. They have contributed to many stories that aim to investigate the campus sexual violence problem. EROC has been portrayed as a very positive organization that aims to end campus sexual violence, and has received a lot of positive exposure through the media