Debate Video

The following video was shot by me and with the help of my classmate Ariel Gove. We had a hard time getting most of video recorded and due to time constraints there isn’t a lot of footage about the behind the scenes tour. Also, you will notice that the video is a little bit shaky, that is because we were not able to carry a tripod with us.

Debate Experience

This is a short video on my experience during the Debate that took place at UNLV and the two days before.

“Diamonds or Pearls” questioner says CNN deceived her

In her first in-person interview, the UNLV student who asked the now infamous “diamonds vs. pearls” question at last week’s Democratic presidential debate said that she felt “deceived” by CNN.

Maria Parra-Sandoval said CNN representatives told her what questions to ask and in what order. She said she was told she would get to ask two questions of the presidential candidates — including a substantive question about the proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain. But the network ended the debate seconds after telling her to ask Hillary Clinton the first question – the lighthearted question for which she is now being ridiculed.

She said she feels deceived. “I was supposed to go twice,” she said in an interview this week. She said she would have rather asked a serious question about Yucca mountain, but CNN told her which question to ask, and when.

The controversy over the question began mere moments after the debate ended Thursday night, when, according to Parra, fellow UNLV students criticized her as they left the Cox Pavilion auditorium.

Parra said she wanted an opportunity to explain what happened, because she is concerned with serious issues.

As a member of the Political Science Honors Society, which got her the admission ticket, Parra keeps current on all political issues. (Click here for a large PDF filethat includes her bio from City of Las Vegas Leadership Academy 2005 Yearbook, and go here for an April, 2006 profile of herin the Las Vegas Sun).

She said that in the days leading up to the debate, she submitted several questions via email for CNN’s consideration. She said Bridget Sharp, a CNN editorial producer, turned down some serious questions. “I submitted others on Iraq, and another on healthcare … which were rejected,” she said.

According to her emails with CNN, here are the questions she proposed:

1) “Despite significant efforts at reforming health care for children, millions are
still uninsured. Moreover, the federal government spends a lot more dollars on the elderly than in children. Compared to other industrialized nations, we lag behind in providing adequate care for our children. Additionally, our children are the poorest segment of our population.

“Under your tenure as President, please name details as to what plan you have for extending children’s health reform. Will your plan favor decreasing spending (What will you cut?) or will your plan favor more taxes to subsidize health care.

2) “Bringing our troops home from Iraq is what many Americans want. I know I do. However, we cannot take them out so abruptly while the region is experiencing a civil war. What plan do you believe is the best option to start bringing our troops home while providing stability to the area? How long do you believe it will take to implement your plan?

3) “Yucca Mountain, NV is the proposed site for the country’s nuclear repository. Despite scientific evidence that it is a vulnerable site, the federal
government continues to push for the plan to move forward. The evidence relied on is unsound and the risks involved in transporting high-level radioactive waste across the country are high. What will you do to ensure that the best site is chosen for the storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel?”

On Wednesday morning before the debate, CNN representatives insisted that she propose a “lighthearted” question by noon. “They gave me a deadline of noon to submit optional questions, because the other ones were rejected.”

That’s when Parra submitted the diamonds or pearls question. “It was a last minute thing, I just sent it in,” she said. “I did that right at the end … seconds before submitting it.”

This time her question was not rejected. “They actually called me right away. Not a minute passed by,” she said. “They must have loved the pearls or diamonds question, because the people on the phone seemed excited about it. It was sort of like they really meant to do it — to make that be the last question.”

The producers later assured her she would be allowed to ask two questions. She said a CNN representative told her: “We have your two questions approved. You are question No. 15 and question No. 18.”

Parra also said, “I was supposed to go twice. Question No. 15 was the diamonds or pearls question, and No. 18 was the Yucca mountain question.”

In an interview with Talking Points Memo, CNN representatives have acknowledged that they told her which question to ask, and in what order, although they said Parra wrote the questions herself.

Parra said other UNLV students in the audience said CNN did not tell them to memorize their questions, which suggests to her that CNN never planned to use their questions.

“In some sort of way I felt deceived” she said, “Because right after the pearls or diamonds question — which I didn’t know was the end of the debate — that’s when it was ended, completely.”

Here is the video, courtesy of Youtube and Talking Points Memo:

Not even a Thank You

The run up to the presidential debate left me wary of how volunteering for the actually event would turn out. I was right to be wary.

I arrived on campus at 2:00 p.m. to get my credentials. After walking to three different security checkpoints I was told to go back to the first one and they would let me in. I got my credentials and then was told to meet in the spin room in an hour. The spin room is basically a media room where candidates and their reps come after the debate to answer media’s questions. The room gets so crazy that our job is to literally hold signs over the reps heads so that the media can find them. I had the chance to hold a sign over Howard Dean. He was a pretty neat guy. Nice for the most part and his handlers are top notch. They even had him sign my sign as he was leaving.

He did an interview for CNN.com and if you watch it I am in the background.
http://www.cnn.com/video//video/politics/2007/11/15/long.howard.dean.interview.cnn?iref=videosearch

I also got to meet Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Joe Biden. All were very personable. It was an experience of a lifetime!

However CNN were complete jerks. I was stuck in that room for almost 8.5 hours and there was no food, no water and I never even got a thank you! What the heck!! Our “boss” Priscilla told us no one could leave until the cleanup was done and just kept ordering us to do random things. After an hour and a half of cleaning up and being the only student to still stick around I took off, still without even a thanks.

Thanks CNN. For performing exactly as I had expected you to. For showing us that you could care less about those who wanted to help.

Not all journalists are like CNN

Now that it is a few days after the debate and I have had time to sit and think about the events of that day, I realized two things.  Number one is that CNN was generous enough to give a few press passes to students, but then showed no professional courtesy once we were in there.  And number two is that the way CNN treated the future reporters of America is not at all how other journalists acted toward us. 

In the media filing room, there were five extremely long tables that sat maybe 15 or 20 people.  There were cards in front of each seat with a name or organization printed on them.  Ours said “UNLV” and right next to us sat a card that read “NewsHour.”  It was it a privilege just to sit next to these journalists, but their acceptance and kindness was unexpected.  I have to admit, after being treated the way we were by CNN, I half expected the other journalists there to look down on us and not bother with us. 

When I first walked in, a reporter from the Washington Post said hello and shook my hand.  Then, while Ben Rowley and I set up our laptops at our stations, a reporter from NewsHour made small talk with us, telling us how great he thought it was that we were there.

I really appreciated that the other reporters made me feel like I had just as much a right to be there as they did.  I felt like we were on an equal playing field and I am very gracious for their friendly and accepting attitudes.

Notice the U-N-L-V

We know you have a banner on our building, but notice the much larger sign to the right, it’s U-N-L-V! There were a lot of students disappointed with CNN this week.

CNN seemed to have marched right in and put limits on things that we as students should have rights to. To start the blog about the tours given to the public shows real disappointment from any of those without “the badge”. Secondly, since when is the student union not open to students? The second floor ballroom held the watch party last night and only those on a list or with the press could enter. The room was never filled, so they obviously could have allowed the students that were interested into the room. At least the outside looked inviting.

Hopefully the next time a news group invades the campus, they will take a more student friendly approach.

All photos By: Sonja Corliss

East side of campus was asleep yesterday

When I was wandering about campus around 4:30 p.m., things were very quiet. All the excitement was near the Cox Pavilion. The people handing out CNN gear didn’t even ask trivia questions anymore, they were just trying to get rid of everything. The only action I saw was a guy wearing a navy windbreaker outfit and some huge 80s headphones jogging around singing the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

Someone pointed over to a stand where free t-shirts were being passed out. By the stand, there was a poster that students were writing on. I took a few pictures of students’ thoughts written in colored sharpies.

LAX After Party

LAX hosted an after party for all members of the press after the debate. Press credentials got you a VIP line pass and free drink.  LAX is one of the hottest new nightclubs at the Luxor in Las Vegas.
Mobile post sent by Kristen using Utterz.  Replies.

Dance Floor at LAX

The crowd at LAX filled with members of the press from the debate, finally able to unwind.
Mobile post sent by Kristen using Utterz.  Replies.

VIP Line at LAX After Party

After party at LAX
Mobile post sent by Kristen using Utterz.  Replies.

The Last — and Most Stupid — Question of the Debate

(Editor’s note: This post was updated to include the text of the question and answer from the debate and the video.)

A group of UNLV journalism and senate students met up after the debate for drinks. Inevitably, talk turned to the separate experiences of the debate that each of the students had. Some of us were in the Cox Pavilion, some at the watch party and some were press reporting on the event.

The major opinion touted by all was that the final question of the debate was incredibly stupid.

And what made matters worse was that the girl who asked it prefaced it by saying that she was a UNLV student

One opinion was that CNN told her to ask that question as a cute wrap up to end the debate.

(This is the text of the question as posted this morning by The New York Times:)

MR. BLITZER: Thank you, Governor. Suzanne, go ahead.

MS. MALVEAUX: Maria, would you stand, please? Give us your full name.

Q Maria — (inaudible) — and I’m a UNLV student. And my question is for Senator Clinton. This is a fun question for you. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls? (Laughter.)

SEN. CLINTON: Now, I know I’m sometimes accused of not being able to make a choice. I want both. (Laughter.)

MS. MALVEAUX: Do we get to ask any of the other candidates or, I suppose, just Senator Clinton? (Cross talk.)

Q It’s the only thing shiny up there.

MS. MALVEAUX: Okay, thank you so much.

MR. BLITZER: All right, so on that note, diamonds and pearls, I want to thank all of the Democratic presidential candidates for joining us here this evening. Let’s give them a big round of applause. (Cheers, applause.)

And here is the video, courtesy of YouTube and TalkingPointsMemo: