Yesterday night at Busboys and Poets, those issues and more were covered ad nauseum in a debate between the third party candidates. The four candidates all packed into a small back room of the hip cafe on V Street for a debate moderated by perhaps the most (in)famous third-party contender ever, Ralph Nader.

For starters, here’s a brief rundown on each candidate and his or her respective party:

• Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is the Libertarian Party candidate and has ballot access in 49 states (the exception being Oklahoma). He supports the usual slate of Libertarian positions, including the Fair Tax, massive spending reductions in both social programs and the military, and a hands-off approach to both social and economic policy.

• Harvard-educated physician Jill Stein is the Green Party candidate and is on the ballot in 38 states and districts, or as she likes to say, “for 85 percent of the population.” Her platform, dubbed The Green New Deal, is basically a beefed-up, environmentally-focused stimulus package taking its cues from the European Green Party manifesto with the same name.

• The Constitution Party is running former Virginia Representative Virgil Goode for president, and is on the ballot in 24 states. If Mitt Romney’s policies will take America back to the 1950s, Goode’s promise to vault the nation into the paleolithic era, calling for, among other draconian proposals, a moratorium on almost all immigration until unemployment is below five percent. He also criticized the Fair Tax for being too high and progressive in an exchange with Johnson.

Read more after the jump on Gavin’s summary of the highs and lows of the third party debate.
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Here we present the candidates for Village C East. This district will have one spot for a senator. Three students are running.

Robert Shepherd (MSB ’15)

Shepherd is running for reelection to the GUSA Senate from Village C East because he is “determined to set and achieve realistic goals and foster a positive Georgetown experience for everyone.”

Whereas many other candidates identify campus life issues as their primary concerns, Shepherd puts more focus on the classroom. In an email to  Vox he wrote that he wants “support for academic life and research (to increase students’ opportunities and the value of the Georgetown degree).”

Shepherd points to his work ethic and institutional knowledge as his best attributes.  He writes “(a) my knowledge of the language of GUSA and of the school’s inner administrative workings and (b) my willingness to devote long hours and strenuous effort to the students’ cause” set him apart from other candidates.

As for his previous term, Shepherd lists “ (a) being accessible to everyone in my district and listening to their concerns and (b) being voted by the Senate to the Finance and Appropriations Committee,” as his top accomplishments.

Megan Murday (SFS ’15)

When you pick up your GUSA ballot, Murday wants you to “think M&M’s: Vote Megan Murday to improve Meals and Maintenance!”

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Here are the candidates for the single senate seat representing LXR. There are three candidates in the race.

Zach Singer (SFS ’15)

Zach Singer (SFS ‘15) is an International Politics major running to represent LXR Hall. Calling himself “the only experienced GUSA candidate in the LXR election,” much of his pitch is based on his past accomplishments in the Senate.

“As the vice-chair of the Finance and Appropriations committee last year and a sitting member on the New South Student Center committee, I know how to advocate for students and make the goals of LXR’s residents happen,” he wrote in an email.

When asked about his accomplishments last semester, Singer pointed to his work on the FinApp committee again.

“I am proud of my accomplishments in the Finance and Appropriations committee,” he wrote. “Last year I helped SAC gain 66% more funding than their previous budget. Every student on the Hilltop will benefit from this larger budget. However, I am most proud of the bill I authored with Ben Weiss that created a financial aid program for GUSA Senate Elections. I believe every student who wants to run for GUSA should be given a chance, and that’s why I authored that bill.”

Singer says speaking up for students remains his top priority this time around.

“My main issue is student advocacy,” he wrote,“whether that means encouraging student-run businesses to be able to compete on campus, or advocating for the rights of every club, or making sure the burden of proof is raised to clear and convincing. Students need strong advocates in GUSA and I know how to be one.”

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Sheila Walsh (COL ’14), is the sole candidate for the senate seat representing the townhouses.

Sheila Walsh

Sheila Walsh (COL ‘14) is a Government major running unopposed to represent townhouse residents in the senate. She writes to Vox that she is  “running for re-election to the GUSA Senate in order to advocate for fellow students as the university begins implementing changes resulting from the most recent campus plan agreement.”

Walsh wants to “prioritize the integration of what’s likely to be a new advisory board for Campus Ministry into the institution’s existing funding structure.”

In addition to the experience of running for GUSA Vice-President last spring, Walsh points to her leadership in pushing for reallocation of money collected by the Student Activities Fee.

 “The most important accomplishment of my last term was the role I played in the SAFE Reform referendum by which the student body voted on how to allocate $3.4 million of the defunct SAF Endowment,” she wrote. “As a result, the SIPS Fund was established, Georgetown Energy is installing solar panels on GU Townhouses, and additional square footage will be renovated in the New South Student Center.”

Here we present the candidates for Copley. This district will have a single senate spot. Three students are running.

Heather Artinian

Heather Artinian (COL ‘15) is a government major with an intended minor in Justice and Peace Studies. She writes that she’s running for Copley Hall’s seat “because I truly believe that students  are important and that our voices should be heard by the administration.”

Artinian says her affiliations with a variety of campus activities and groups gives her a unique perspective as a candidate. “I think that my experiences distinguish me from other candidates,” she wrote in an email. “I am currently a part of club basketball, intramurals, and various volunteering activities so I feel that I have a better understanding of what goes on campus.”

Perhaps because of her range of interests, Artinian was hesitant to identify a sole top priority. “I think there are a lot of issues: Leo’s, Zipcars, transportation,” she wrote, “but I think that the clear and convincing standard would be first on my list because, the upgrade would impact all of us in a tremendously positive way. “

Although this would be her first term in GUSA, Artinian points to success before her college career as proof she can get the job done. “When I was in high school I led a successful referendum/petition to bring back some of the programs and teachers cut due to budget constraints. I feel that I have experience with administrators.”

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Early Friday afternoon, members of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee delivered a letter and petition to University President John J. DeGioia’s office asking the administration to cut its sportswear contract with Adidas if the company does not reform its labor practices.

The issue at hand is severance pay for Indonesian workers. Solidarity members say Adidas is withholding back wages owed to employees.

“Adidas had a factory called PT Kizone in Indonesia and two other companies, Nike and Dallas Cowboys, also operated in this factory,” Natalia Margolis (SFS ‘13) said. “They closed the factory and now Adidas is refusing to pay the workers … a severance.”

Julia Hubbell (COL ‘15) says this practice not only puts Adidas at odds with Indonesian law, but violates the University’s licensing agreement.

“There is a specific clause in that contract that says companies need to pay all applicable back wages, meaning specifically severance,” she said. “That gives Georgetown University every right to either demand Adidas change its behavior or cut the contract.”

Friday was not the first time GSC has asked the University to pressure Adidas. The group delivered a letter to the administration last spring, but the results were unsatisfactory to the activists.

“We had a letter delivery last year,” said Margolis. “Georgetown has sent letters to Adidas, but the response hasn’t been enough … They don’t want to set precedent that they’re going to do this.”

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chose Gaston Hall today as the venue to introduce a wide-ranging set of policies aimed to protect women and institutionalize their voices around the world.

The first-ever National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security lays out five steps for cooperation and action among numerous governmental agencies to increase women’s security in zones of conflict and implement their voices in government and peacekeeping operations around the world. President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order that directed for the plan’s implementation earlier this morning.

Clinton emphasized, “women are not just the victims of war. They are agents of peace.” Accordingly, the first area of the National Action Plan emphasizes partnering with women in vulnerable regions and countries to prevent conflict before it begins. Women’s health and security issues are often “canaries in the coal mine”, said Clinton, and can act as “early warning systems” to not only highlight where women are being oppressed, but where conflict is likely to occur in the future.

When armed conflict does break out, the second prong of the National Action Plan is designed to strengthen and expand efforts to protect women in conflict zones. Clinton said the plan will compel American diplomats and humanitarian workers across the globe to reach out to “political leaders and local influentials” and “poorly trained soldiers and police” in efforts to combat the use of rape as a war tactic and to provide adequate aid services to women.

The US government will also work to reach out to men and boys at all levels of society to end discrimination—including combating tribal and religious-based gender discrimination. Clinton said that many of these efforts will remain sensitive to local norms and cultures, but “you must draw lines in certain areas.” “Beating women is not cultural,” the Secretary said. “It is criminal.”

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Population growth and poor agricultural practices are the main culprits in a deterioration of the Potomac River’s health, according to a recent environmental study. The Potomac Conservancy released its yearly State of the Nation’s River report last Thursday, and gave the waterway a D grade, down from a D+ in its first report in 2007.

As cities surrounding Washington have grown over the past five years, development of new neighborhoods has destroyed much of the forest that usually contains and filters rainwater flowing into the Potomac. Now with the addition of many non-absorbent surfaces, such as roofs and parking lots, in cities, more polluted water is flowing into the watershed than ever.

At the same time, a growing number of farms around the river valley have led to runoff contaminated with nutrients from animal feed and waste. The decay of these nutrients in the water depletes oxygen, resulting in fish kills and “dead zones,” where there is not enough water to sustain marine life, in the river and Chesapeake Bay. The Potomac is also often unsafe for swimming after summer rainstorms, when overburdened city sewer systems spill human waste into the river, a problem that only worsens with population increase.

The poultry industry presents a particular difficulty. Chickens are big business in Northwest Virginia and Maryland, but their waste is especially harmful to the river. It is rich in oxygen-depleting nitrogen and phosphorous, along with a host of other harmful bacteria like E. Coli. Even so, there are few rules governing the handling of waste by big farms, and the policies are, according to the report, “vague.” As levels of runoff have increased, the uptick in farming activity and waste has created a particularly tough environmental situation for the Potomac.

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