Student debate tickets offered as lottery prizes, contest awards

As the 2008 presidential debate approaches, University of Mississippi students have been given the opportunity to win tickets to the event.

“The Commission on Presidential Debates is in control of the number of seats available,” ticket subcommittee member Tyler Craft said in a university press release Wednesday. “Unfortunately, students get an extremely limited number of tickets and we wanted to create several different ways for students to win tickets.”

University officials and the student steering committee for the presidential debate have developed a plan to distribute the debate tickets to Ole Miss students.

“The student steering committee has a subcommittee that was in charge of coming up with event ideas and a cohesive plan that would distribute the student tickets,” subcommittee member Claire Graves said in Wednesday’s press release.

According to the Ole Miss debate Web site, the 3-part distribution plan includes a lottery based on participation in debate-related activities, a lottery based on campus leadership, scholarship and campus activity participation and by winning debate-related contests.

The Passport Program is a lottery that is based on participation in debate events held between August 29th through September 10th, the Web site said.

University students can recieve a passport to the debate card in the Student Union. 

Students must show their Ole Miss ID in order to receive a passport, the Web site said.

Students can get their passport stamped by participating in approved debate-related activities.

There will be a passport table set up at each approved event, and students must go to these tables at the end of the event to get their passport stamped.

Each stamp will give the student one entry into the lottery, the Web site said.

Students are alotted a maximum of five entries.

A list of approved debate-related activities can be found on the debate Web site. 

Stamped passports will be collected Sunday, Sept. 21, Ben Williams, assistant dean of students for Greek affairs and student organizations, said.

The winners will be announced at a public drawing;  however, the winners will have to be cleared before attending the 2008 presidential debate, Williams said.

The Passport Program lottery will distribute 75% of the allotted student debate tickets, the Web site said.

The second part of the distribution plan is available for students who have achieved leadership, outstanding scholarship and have active campus participation, according to the site.

Students can apply for this lottery by filling out an application online. They must have a 2.0 GPA or higher.

Students who fill out this application will receive points for leadership positions, academic standing and activities. A student must earn at least 10 points to be entered in this lottery.

The third distribution method will consist of debate-related contests. These contests include the Debate Class Competition, the OMazing Race, the Campus Programming Quiz Bowl and The Daily Mississippian Policy Proposal Contest.