UNLV rolls out red carpet for debate

For at least one night, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will be known for something other than basketball.

As it plays host to Thursday's Democratic presidential debate, the 50-year-old school is looking to ramp up its image, which was last burned into the national consciousness in 1990 when it won the NCAA basketball championship.

This week, UNLV has rolled out the red carpet for national candidates.

It has assembled a host of "faculty experts" for news media. It is holding debates and discussions this week with top-rate political commentators and writers. Its students will be volunteering at the debate.

"I've done a number of special events in my day, but I don't think anything like this has come to our campus before," said Schyler Richards, UNLV associate vice president for community relations, who is coordinating the event with CNN.

There is at least one drawback to the event. "It's going to make parking a disaster," said UNLV associate professor of political science David Damore.

But Damore sees that as a small price to pay.

He is listed as a "faculty expert" on the university's Web site and has fielded calls over the last few days from a host of national news outlets: National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Reuters, and others.

"I think it's a start to get UNLV recognized for something other than basketball," he said.

UNLV President David Ashley said, "It's really the center of the political world for the day, for the week, and we're pretty excited to have it on our campus."

CNN will have several of its shows set at the Cox Pavilion this week, including "The Situation Room," "American Morning" and "Lou Dobbs Tonight," according to David Bohrman, senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for CNN.

Yet signs on campus that Thursday will be one of the most noteworthy days in the university's history are few and far between.

"It's not really open to the public, so it's tough for us to advertise it," Richards said. "We have to maintain our non-partisanship, so we haven't been actively promoting the debate."

UNLV was awarded 800 of the roughly 2,000 seats for the debate, she said, but 1,200 students and faculty asked to attend.

The official viewing party on Thursday night, held in the student union, won't be open to the public, either, she said.

Not promoting the event on campus, however, has rubbed at least one student the wrong way.

"I would have hoped they would have made a bigger deal out of it," said Sara Arthrell, a junior in business management who started UNLV Students for Obama, the only official organization on campus that has the goal of supporting a candidate.

Arthrell isn't the only student upset about the debate.

College of Southern Nevada biology student Terrell Potter, 21, said he was chosen to ask a question at the debate about alternative energy by CNN, but was later rejected by the network when he disclosed he had donated to Libertarian presidential hopeful Ron Paul.

His peers in the course, "Science Fiction vs. Fact: The Politics of Global Warming," had chosen the question and nominated Potter to ask it, according to Potter and the adjunct professor who teaches the class.

"It's heartbreaking to think that because of who I donate to, I can't present a question that I was chosen to present," said Potter, who said he is a registered Democrat.

Bohrman said its process of screening people who will ask questions, which it applies for all of the debates it sponsors, was properly applied in Potter's case.

"You don't want to stack the deck of people who are already so partisan they've donated to a candidate," Bohrman said.

CNN will have about 100 people sitting in what network executives call the "red zone," an area right in front of the stage that will be made up of Nevada Democrats who declare themselves undecided.

People from that pool will be the ones selected to ask questions of the candidates, Bohrman said.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0440.