February 18, 2003

To AHANA students,

The Political Science Association (PSA) will be holding a discussion by students on the pros and cons of affirmative action. We are looking for four people, two on each side, to participate in the event.

The setup and the format of the discussion will be as follows. The participants on each side will be seated mostly facing the audience, but the tables will be angled so that each side will partially face each other, with the moderator in the middle. The discussion will begin with a short prepared opening statement, not exceeding five minutes, by each of the four students. Then each side will be given the opportunity to respond to what the other side had to say. That will be followed by a short period of questions by the moderator, then opened up to questions by the audience.

The PSA has created a simple application process in hopes of selecting the students who will lead as lively and engaging of a discussion as possible. For those who are interested, please submit a draft of an opening statement, not exceeding one page in length, that will be read to begin the discussion. The statement should present your stance on affirmative action, e.g. whether you favor it, oppose it, or favor it only under certain conditions, and why. The statement should serve as an introduction of your views to the audience, and as a jumping off point in the discussion to follow since the other side will be given the opportunity to respond. The PSA board will review each submission and will select the participants from the pool. Applications will be accepted until Wednesday February 26. Please send all submissions to either sasanuma@bc.edu or john.lynaugh.1@bc.edu.

The PSA has set a preliminary date of the first Wednesday evening after spring break, March 12th for the event, although there is a possibility it will be on Tuesday evening, depending on the room availability. We will let you know as soon as possible once the date is finalized.

We look forward to your submissions. If you have any questions, please email sasanuma@bc.edu.

Joe Sasanuma
PSA Board
www.bc.edu/psa