For those who have often wondered what opinions are rolling through their instructor’s brain, the answers are coming soon.

Mt. Hood Community College’s Social Science Department will host Historians Roundtables in the Town and Gown Room, Monday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 10.
MHCC instructors will participate in a debate-like setting, expressing their thoughts and beliefs on topics related to their field of expertise.

“It is a chance to find out what people of knowledge in the field think about current events,” history instructor Pat Casey said.

Political science instructor Janet Campbell organized the first events, during the 2002 – 2003 school year.

This year, Campbell is on sabbatical, leaving Casey in charge of the events.

“What Pat Casey [is trying] to do, along with others in his department, is figure out which issues might be of the most interest, pertaining to current events,” accounting instructor Jerry Kohler said.

The topics to be discussed are usually about current events, according to Casey. In the past, they have discussed the Electoral College and asked the question, “Is music the devil’s playground?”

During each roundtable session, each speaker will get five minutes to make a presentation. According to Casey, it is important for each panel member to find one or two points to say in their five minutes, as opposed to attempting to explain the history of the world in five minutes.

When all the presentations have been made, anyone attending can question the panel members. It is during this time, according to Casey, that debate usually cooks.

“It depends on how controversial or how hot the question is,” Casey said. “During the presentations, typically there is not a lot of opinion. When people respond to the questions, that is where opinion kicks in.”

Also participating in the roundtable is a moderator. Either Department chair Corey Pressman or speech and forensics instructor Shannon Valdivia may fill this position.

“It is a question of who is available,” Casey said of instructors being able to show.
Economics instructor Ted Scheinman said he participates in the roundtables because he believes people’s opinions are often not based on any reality. He hopes that through these events, people will be able to separate their emotions from proper analysis of the subject.

“These events give students different perspectives from different people,” Kohler said.
The roundtables can help one get outside of their comfort zone, according to Scheinman, and develop critical thinking skills.

The issue of democracy and how it comes to be will be discussed Monday.

Panel members for this discussion will be Pat Casey, focusing on United States history, and history instructor Elizabeth Milliken, focusing on European and world history. Joining them will be MHCC alum Gunnar Abramson, focusing on Korean and Japanese history.
One topic that may arise during the open question time is the goal of democracy in the Middle East.

The people of Iraq can do it, according to Casey.

“If you come in from outside and say all right, here is a system and you are going to go with it, you have to accept the fact that folks may or may not agree with you,” Casey said.

“Typically democracy takes a long time to grow and prosper.”

Some examples that may be used are Germany, Japan, Iraq, Korea and possibly India.
On Nov. 10, a different panel will discuss whether it makes financial sense to spend untold billions to rebuild New Orleans. This panel will be made up of Scheinman and Kohler.

Scheinman said his presentation will focus on the concept that this situation involves trade-offs.

“If it is going to cost $200 billion to do it, I will question, what else we can do with $200 billion,” Scheinman said.

The amount of $200 billion is five times the projected deficit of the Social Security system, according to Scheinman, as well as being an approximate total for the war in Iraq.

“I want students to recognize there are choices,” Scheinman said. “I also want to i­dentify how we are going to pay for it.”

The choices are to either “sweep it under the carpet,” install new taxes, or use deficit financing, said Scheinman.

According to Kohler, his presentation will focus on an accountant’s viewpoint.

“Accountants should be concerned that things are in balance,” Kohler said, “and it is my belief that government spending has been out of balance for many years.”

Kohler also plans on touching upon spending priorities, asking if people are going to spend money, how should they spend it.