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The Student-Run Newspaper of Townsend Harris High School at Queens College

The Classic

The Student-Run Newspaper of Townsend Harris High School at Queens College

The Classic

Special Interest Groups rally voters to their causes

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The Wildlife Association presents a skit to the school. Photo by Vanesa Martinez.

The Special Interest Rally held on October 24 gave the Special Interest Groups of the 2012-2013 Election Simulation an opportunity to present their ideas to the student body in funny, interesting, and informative ways.

The Special Interest Groups presented at the Rally were Restore Our Future, Priority USA Action, the Republican National Committee, the Democratic National Committee, the Business Round Table, AFL-CIO, the American Family Association, the Wildlife Association, FAIR, the National Immigration Forum, American Crossroads, Occupy Wall Street, and MoveOn.org.

Dr. Steinman, one of many teachers involved in the Election Simulation, said, “I thought they did a great job. Underclassmen enjoyed the skits more than they enjoyed the talking. I can understand that. When you only have two minutes, it’s hard to come up with something funny, entertaining, and informative at the same time.”

Each group was given two minutes to present their issues, ideas, and views to the student body.

Throughout the skits, there was laughter from the student body.

Delenira Deleon, senior, was part of the group representing the Democratic National Committee. She said, “I thought the Special Interest Groups’ skits were really good. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. It worked out. The skits were not only funny, but also presented their views successfully.”

Among these were the skit presented by Occupy Wall Street and MoveOn.org. They presented a skit about Big Bird and Governor Mitt Romney. The student portraying Mitt Romney spoke to Big Bird, saying, “I like Big Bird. I may even like these people over here. They may not be the 47%, but I like them.” He went on to fire Big Bird. They ended the skit by saying, “Today is brought to you by the letter U, for unemployed.”

Melissa De La Torre explained, “The rally went really well, considering we only had two days to plan it.”

Carlamarie Rodriguez, senior and part of the group representing the AFL-CIO, said “All groups did really well. They had an equal mix of education and entertainment.” She continued, “I lament that it was only one band long. However, I think that the school had a good opportunity to learn about the Special Interest Groups.

Dr. Steinman said, “It was a lunch band, so it was hard to fit everyone. We had thirteen Special Interest Groups to accommodate. I thought it went well, considering this.”

The Republican National Committee showed students a skit about a man proposing to his girlfriend. In response to his proposal, the woman says, “Yes, but wait, what job do you have?” to which the man responds, “I’ll find a job, don’t worry!” She disagrees, saying, “In this economy, where the unemployment rate is over 8%?” The man becomes desperate, saying, “Please, I’ll do anything!” while the woman begins to back out, saying “I don’t think I can do this.” However, Mitt Romney comes in to save the day. He explains why they should get married, and says, “I’m Mitt Romney, and I approve of this marriage.”

“In the beginning, I thought everyone was just going to try to present boring facts, but people came up with great skits. The mics weren’t working well, but I thought everyone did really well. The skits entertained the audience and taught them a lot about the Special Interest Groups,” said Bohang Liu, the senior who portrayed the proposing man for the Republican National Committee.

Carly Lam, senior, was part of the group representing FAIR at the rally. She said, “I think it went well. Everyone had a very interesting skit and the information was very informative and interesting. I think the rally got the Special Interest Groups’ goals and agendas across well in the time allotted, which wasn’t really that much in order to do what we wanted.”

There were several technical difficulties during the Special Interest Rally. The microphones stopped working several times, making it impossible for those standing or sitting far from the stage to hear the skits.

Nandine Hemraj, senior, said “I thought that the technical difficulties and time limits took away from the skits, making them less informative, but overall everyone did a great job.”

“I thought it was a very nice rally. The skits were really creative. The Special Interest Groups get less attention, so a rally is a good way to introduce what they stand for to a larger student body,” said Mr. Wood, another teacher involved in the Simulation.

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