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Peace Corps Volunteer Rennie Silva speaks to Management students about the upcoming U.S. elections.
Peace Corps volunteer provides Battambong students with a lesson in democracy
University of Management and Economics, Battambang
November 04, 2008
As American citizens began on November 4 to cast their votes in the United States to elect their 44th President , Peace Corps volunteer Rennie Silva spoke at the University of Management and Economics to help students better understand the electoral college system and the issues and people that have defined the 2008 US election.
Silva’s powerpoint presentation, titled “The Decision of a Century: an Introduction to the 2008 US Presidential Election” offered students a break-down of the Electoral College and its role in electing a President, as well as overviews of candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. This included an explanation of the differences in personal background and political perspective they bring to the race. The presentation also touched upon the major economic, social and military issues defining the campaigns of both candidates, and the possibility of a historic realignment in American politics resulting from the election’s outcome. Silva explained how and why the election may represent dramatic changes in campaigns and elections, and discussed how its results could have broad implications for change in the executive and legislative branches of American government.
The event, attended by 133 students and organized by Phann Sophon, university vice-president and coordinator of the American Corner Cambodia, Battambang housed at the UME, was the second in a series of three lectures offered to students at the UME by Peace Corps volunteer Rennie Silva, who is an upper-secondary school English teacher in Bavel district, Battambang province.
