In an effort to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the upcoming presidential election, student groups are getting together to debate those issues.

The Political Science Club will host a debate Monday night between the ISU Democrats and the ISU College Republicans.

Jake Larson, president of the Political Science Club, said hearing issues from peers rather than from remote political figures will help bring the issues closer to home. He said the issues that will be covered in this debate will come from many different topics, including foreign policy, energy dependency, health care and education.

“It should be a rather candid experience, with the students talking about the issues rather than hearing them from the presidential candidates in a pre-scripted format,” Larson said. “It should also be more fun.”

Louis Kishkunas, president of the ISU College Republicans, said he believes this will be a good opportunity for students to get involved in the election process.

“It will hopefully give them a clearer understanding of the issues,” said Kishkunas, junior in political science. “Plus, being in a room with our peers will help.”

Drew Larson, a member of the ISU Democrats, believes that this event holds great importance among young voters.

“We need to get [students] involved because we are sadly lacking in our involvement in the political process,” said Larson, senior in accounting. “Our decisions are going to affect the lives of our parents and grandparents. I strongly urge everyone to get involved in these sorts of things to ensure a brighter future for our country.”

Kishkunas said he was unsure if this sort of debate has taken place before at Iowa State, because most of the students taking part in it were not in college during the last election.

“I’m not sure; I do know that we go and speak at public speech rallies, but in terms of this debate, I think this might be the first one of this format,” Kishkunas said.

The debate will begin with questions from the Political Science Club, and both groups will have a chance to ask questions of the opposition. Audience members will also have a chance to ask questions.

Dirk Deam, lecturer of political science, will serve as the moderator, but doesn’t plan to have a very distinctive role as the moderators the presidential debates did.

“My job is to serve as the traffic cop and keep things running smoothly,” Deam said.

Jake Larson, event organizer, said this debate should help to get lots of people motivated to participate in the upcoming weeks to the general election.

“We hope to get people educated, get them involved, and get them to take part in the democratic process,” Larson said.

The debate will take place at 7 p.m. Monday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.