For many people, being educated on the current political situation can be hard without the proper guidance or exposure, which is why the upcoming Day of Politics event might be of some interest.
First held back in 2011, Pierce College’s Day of Politics is an event held in the Great Hall on Oct. 17 where students can learn more about current political ongoings, usually within the state.
A major focus this year will be placed on Proposition 10 and Proposition 6, which deal with rent control and the possible repeal of the new gas tax respectively.
To Kaycea Campbell, the Department Chair of Political Science & Economics & Criminal Justice, the event acts as a way to spread more information about a wide range of political issues.
“It’s pretty much to expose students to a lot of different issues related to legislation, a lot of issues related to the political system, representatives and all of that stuff,” Campbell said. “So it is more of an information dissemination process.”
Denise Robb, an instructor of political sciences and one of the organizers of the event, hopes to provide students with a chance to meet with Californian political figures and get a better understanding of their policies.
“We can’t cover them all because there’s so many of them and we can’t cover all the candidates but we do have one of the candidates for the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of California.,” Robb Said. “We have both candidates running for State Assembly, including our own assemblyman, Jesse Gabriel, who is representing the district and running for reelection.”
Genesis Descua, one of the club presidents of Pierce Democrats, believes that because the upcoming election in November, there’s also been an extra emphasis on getting students to register to vote by clubs and staff.
Not only has the November election brought a shift in the focus for the Day of Politics, but it has also helped garner more attention for the event than it would have gotten beforehand, which may result in a larger turnout.
“Every year it takes a different theme, and this particular year it’s fallen right in that period where we have a major election coming up,” Campbell said. “So there’s a lot of activity, there’s a lot of buzz, there’s a lot of supplemental stuff that’s happening. So I think that all of that is acting as a promotion for the event, I think that it will probably be one of the bigger ones in terms of drawing in the crowds this year,” Descua said.
For those attending the event, political discussion isn’t the only thing to look forward to, as the University of California, Los Angeles, who often co-produce this event, will be providing pizza to those who are present.
