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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

CIVIC hosts debate on climate, cybersecurity, healthcare policies

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Members of the Tufts Democrats, Tufts Republicans and Left Unity Project speak at a debate hosted by Tufts Cooperation and Innovation in Citizenship on Oct. 25.
Disclaimer: Aneurin Canham-Clyne is a columnist for the Daily. He was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

Tufts Cooperation and Innovation in Citizenship (CIVIC) hosted a debate between campus political groups on Oct. 25 at ASEAN Auditorium. With more than 70 people in attendance, representatives from the Tufts Democrats, Tufts Republicans and Left Unity Project debated controversial issues including energy policy and climate change, privacy and cybersecurity and healthcare.

Those in participation included senior Andrew Feder and first-year Nicolas Salem of Tufts Democrats; first-years Arlen Belitsky, Keenan Rhea and junior Robert Whitehead of Tufts Republicans; and seniors Ria Mazumdar and Aneurin Canham-Clyne of the Left Unity Project.

Each team was given one minute to present an opening statement. Then, three questions were asked to each team with only one minute allotted for answers. Lastly, teams had four minutes per question for a rebuttal and one minute to make a closing statement. CIVIC member Zachary Intrater, a sophomore, and CIVIC co-president Daniel Lewis, a junior, moderated the event.

Brett Isaacs, co-president of CIVIC, stated that the format of this year's debate was modeled on past experiences.

“A lot of the structure is there from previous years," Isaacs, a senior said. "So a lot of it is wrangling people together to get the teams and making sure we have the questions together on time.”

She emphasized the importance of providing a platform for students to engage in political discourse.

“This debate is super valuable because it shows students’ political involvement and how even undergraduates could have a handle on the political issues today," Isaacs said. "[It provides] students a window into different political views."

She added that in the future the club hopes to have a libertarian group participate in the event.

Belitsky began the debate by addressing deficiencies in the American response to climate change.

“[The U.S.] policy has been one of inaction and ignorance … we need to act now with swift action," Belitsky said. "This includes a cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions.”

Feder then responded, emphasizing the importance of the U.S. reassuming global leadership in climate change and to enact meaningful changes.

Mazumdar attributed this issue partly to the power of lobbyists.

“Fossil fuel lobbying has done so much that in the face of changing public opinion we still have not been able to enact change," Mazumdar said. "We need to shut down the fossil fuel industry to bring back control of energy to the people instead of for-profit corporations.”


After this discussion, the focus of the debate shifted to privacy and cybersecurity. Whitehead called for increased online privacy.

“The government should not be looking over your shoulder making sure you’re texting the right thing or emailing the right people,” Whitehead said.

Salem focused his response on the country's overall cybersecurity infrastructure.

“Our government institutions are quite vulnerable to interference," Salem said. "[We] should invest in intelligence agencies.”

Canham-Clyne then spoke on the elimination of mass surveillance.

“We need a permanent legislative council … to rectify abuses of power,” he said.

The debate ended with a discussion about healthcare. Salem began that portion of the discussion with a call for universal healthcare and fairer prices.

“It is long overdue that we guarantee healthcare as a right to all," he said. "We pay twice as much per capita more than any other nation.”

Canham-Clyne echoed Salem's view.

“Until healthcare is treated as what it is -- as a public good and human right -- we will continue to pay more for worse care and have shorter lives than any other nation,” he said.

Rhea criticized the existing healthcare system in the U.S.

“The current Affordable Care Act gets in between the consumer and their choices about healthcare,” he said. “Medicare for all takes the choice out of your hands and puts it in the hands of others.”

First-year Emily Bivins, who attended the debate, reacted positively to the event.

“When I heard about the topics in the debate, I thought they were interesting, and I wanted to see how people from campus felt about them," Bivins said.