In the midst of midterm hysteria, over 40 students took the time to attend a formal panel discussion in New North on Wednesday. The issues addressed were familiar ones – low voter turnout, voter apathy, equivocal candidates – but Wednesday’s discussion was unique in its focus.

Entitled “Hispanics in the 2000 Elections,” the panel featured five politically involved Hispanic men and women, some partisan, all concerned with the place of America’s fastest growing minority in the upcoming election.

While the discussion covered issues ranging from immigration to education to healthcare, the conversation frequently veered toward the topic of low voter turnout among Hispanics. Jerome DeHerrera, a Georgetown graduate student representing the Democratic National Committee, gave some election statistics from the 1996 election.

“In 1996, 91 million whites voted, 11 million blacks and 5 million Hispanics. That’s 54 percent participation overall, and 26 percent participation by Hispanics,” he said.

Marisa Demeo, a nonpartisan speaker representing the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, provided some explanation for those numbers.

“A significant number of our population in this country is not yet naturalized,” she said. “And the Hispanic population in this country is especially young. Many Hispanics simply aren’t 18 yet.”

Raul Gonzalez, an education policy analyst from the National Council of La Raza, spoke to the larger issue of voter apathy.

“There is a cynicism about the voting process that permeates the entire voting population,” he said.

Gonzalez said he blames discontent with the system on partisanship and the ambiguous ways in which issues are articulated.

“We rarely get a straight answer from these candidates,” he said. “It almost never happens.”

The general consensus of the panel was that Hispanics need to vote in order to get key issues addressed.

“The most important issues to Hispanic voters are education and healthcare,” Gonzalez said, “Bilingual education, school vouchers – the candidates aren’t even addressing these issues.”

The discussion moved from a relatively nonpartisan dialogue to a debate between DeHerrera and Jesse Torres, a Legislative Aid to a Republican Congresswoman. Describing the Republican Party as “the party now and for the future of Hispanics,” Torres discussed several Republican-sponsored bills now being discussed in Congress. Among them was a bill that would remove the five-year residency requirement for the receipt of Medicaid.

DeHerrera, representing the DNC, spoke of his party as the traditional party of Hispanic culture and cited polls that place Hispanics heavily on the Democratic side. He also disputed Torres’ claim that Texas Governor George W. Bush has a strong track record for appointing Hispanics to key positions in Texas.

Hispanics in strategic governmental positions proved a key issue, as both presidential candidates have hinted toward appointing a Hispanic Justice to the Supreme Court.

“Regardless of who wins, I expect that there will be a Hispanic appointment within the next two or three vacancies,” Demeo said.

Eusebio Mujal-Leon, chair of the government department, moderated the discussion. He concluded with a statement about the parties’ distinct approaches toward the issues. While many voters complain about the seeming lack of difference between the two candidates, Mujal-Leon sees a large one.

“There are two sets of issues,” he explained. “One party prefers to strengthen the social net, the other to generate opportunity through education. The decisions being made will affect you 20, 30 years down the road.”

The panel was sponsored by the Hispanic Organization for Progress in Education, a group started last year by Randy Rivera (COL ’02) and Bernadette Thomas (COL ’02).

Patrick Hidalgo, (COL ’01), member of HOPE, described the discussion as “part of our overall effort to create awareness of Hispanic culture at Georgetown.

“I think it went well,” he said. “We had a good turnout.”

Other sponsors include the Center for Minority Education Affairs, Diversity Working Group and Youth Service America.

Mike McCabe, vice president of programming for Youth Service America, came out to support the student-run discussion.

“These types of events tend to generate voters, which is especially important to the Hispanic population. Young people feel cynical about the political process, but politicians won’t speak to them unless they vote,” he said.

The panel was part of a series of events sponsored by HOPE during Hispanic Culture Appreciation Week. The week will culminate with a dinner banquet tonight in Copley Formal Lounge starting at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.