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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; There is a lot of stereotyping in this general election, Mark Grudzinski said at an election forum at Misericordia University Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;If you vote for (Donald) Trump, you are seen as a racist. If you vote for Hillary (Clinton), you are crazy. If you supported Bernie (Sanders), you wanted free stuff,&#8221; Grudzinski said, citing examples of stereotyping. &#8220;No one wants to educate themselves like we are doing right now.&#8221;</p><p>A student at Misericordia, Grudzinski voiced his opinion of the presidential campaigns at &#8220;The U.S. Presidential Candidates and The Domestic Policies&#8221; forum held in the Sandy &amp; Marlene Insalaco Hall.</p><p>&#8220;The reason we created this event is because the GLNS (Government, Law and National Security) Club is running an &#8216;MU Lead the Vote&#8217; drive on campus,&#8221; said Rebecca Padot, an assistant professor of History and Government at Misericordia University. &#8220;The GLNS is bringing vans to drive voters to the polls.</p><p>&#8220;So what is missing from that equation? Knowing how to vote.&#8221;</p><p>To help students sort through political agendas, a four-member panel of faculty was comprised of Joseph Curran, executive director of the Ethics Institute and associate professor of Religious Studies; Padot, Christopher A. Stevens, assistant professor of History and Government; and Maureen Romanow Pascal, associate professor or physical therapy.</p><p>The 45-minute event was organized by the university&#8217;s Department of History and Government and attracted nearly 100 students.</p><p>The panel discussed Clinton&#8217;s and Trump&#8217;s platforms on topics such as student loan debt, immigration, healthcare and the environment.</p><p>Clinton&#8217;s policy on making college education more affordable includes a proposal of free tuition at four-year public universities for students in families that earn up to $125,000 a year by the year 2021, Padot said.</p><p>&#8220;It (Clinton&#8217;s plan) covers tuition only and not books and housing,&#8221; she said, adding Clinton also wants to make community college education free.</p><p>&#8220;Education would be funded by high-tax earners,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Padot said Trump agrees the $1.3 trillion student loan debt needs to be addressed but did not see a defined proposal from his campaign.</p><p>Trump and Clinton agree changes in healthcare are necessary to address rising medical and prescription costs, she said.</p><p>Trump wants to appeal Obamacare and create an open market where consumers can buy health insurance across state lines, Padot said.</p><p>Clinton&#8217;s plan is to expand Medicare and fix Obamacare, which has helped many citizens who would have been uninsured, she said.</p><p>Pascal said Trump needs to develop a more comprehensive plan to help those with mental health illness while his counterpart has a well-defined plan.</p><p>At the Q&amp;A portion of the event, one female student said she was a Trump supporter but, after having both candidates&#8217; platforms explained at the forum, is reconsidering her vote.</p><p>Frank Wojtash, a student, is choosing to support Trump.</p><p>&#8220;I feel our border is not protected,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is a chance of terrorists coming in.&#8221;</p><p>Student Nic Mazzone is opting not to vote because he feels neither candidate is adequately addressing the issues facing the nation.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Rebecca Padot, an assistant professor of History and Government at Misericordia University, can be seen through a classroom window as she presents the presidential candidates&#8217; platforms on student loans and healthcare at &#8216;The U.S. Presidential Candidates and The Domestic Policies&#8217; panel discussion Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL091616election-forum2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rebecca Padot, an assistant professor of History and Government at Misericordia University, can be seen through a classroom window as she presents the presidential candidates&#8217; platforms on student loans and healthcare at &#8216;The U.S. Presidential Candidates and The Domestic Policies&#8217; panel discussion Thursday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL091616election-forum1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joseph Curran, executive director of the Ethics Institute and associate professor of Religious Studies at Misericordia University, discusses which presidential candidate is more inline with Catholic voters at &#8216;The U.S. Presidential Candidates and The Domestic Policies&#8217; Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL091616election-forum1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Joseph Curran, executive director of the Ethics Institute and associate professor of Religious Studies at Misericordia University, discusses which presidential candidate is more inline with Catholic voters at &#8216;The U.S. Presidential Candidates and The Domestic Policies&#8217; Thursday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia University faculty members break down presidential candidates by topic