About one hundred people gathered in the HSC Capitol Room last night to listen as College Republican Chairman Mark Brierton and Young Democrat Chairman John Morreale debated national campaign issues, including educational funding and the Persian Gulf situation.

Brierton took a stance similar to that of GOP presidential candidate George Bush on educational funding. He said educational funding is more of a state issue than a federal one and should be left to each individual state. “States know their needs,” he said.

While it is easy to blame Gov. Jim Thompson for the lack of higher level education funding, Brierton said the reason state educational funding has been cut is because Democrat Michael Madigan, the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representitives, has repeatedly spoken out against raising income taxes.

On the other hand, Morreale said he felt the federal government has an obligation to insure that everyone has an equal opportunity to receive an education. “No one should be denied the access to education for financial reasons,” he said. “To give equality of opportunity to everyone is what government is all about,” he added, referring to the philosophy of the Democratic Party.

According to Morreale, Democratic Presidential Candidate Micheal Dukakis plans to offer student loans which will be guaranteed by the federal government. The repayment of these loans will span throughout the course of a person’s life, thus making it less of an immediate burden.

Changing from the education issue to U.S. Persian Gulf policy, both Morreale and Brierton agreed the U.S. should continue to protect Kuwaiti tankers and maintain open shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. They disagreed, however, about the way it should be carried out.

Morreale said the USS Vincennes, the ship which launched the missle shooting down an Iranian airliner, is designed for open sea fighting and is too large for use in the Straits of Hormuz.

“The Reagan administration has this misconception that bigger is better, while Dukakis knows that smaller may actually be better,” he said. “It’s time for policies to change,” he added, saying that a smaller and faster ship might be better in the tight areas of the Sraits.

Brierton and Morreale also aired their party’s views on public housing and the federal deficit and urged the audience to register to vote after the debate.