Oct 18, 2019
By TAPINTO Greater Olean Staff
A partnership among various arms of St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication will yield a live debate between the two candidates vying to replace Catharine Young as the next state senator from New York’s 57th Senate district.
The debate between Republican and Conservative candidates George Borrello and Democratic Candidate Austin Morgan will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the Bob Koop Broadcast Lab on the St. Bonaventure campus.
It is sponsored by TAPInto Greater Olean, a hyper-local news outlet staffed by students in the Jandoli School’s Journalists’ Workshop courses, and the new Jandoli Institute, a media and public policy research center founded by Dr. Richard Lee, an associate professor and the institute’s executive director.
Lee, who team teaches the Journalist’s Workshop course with his wife, Anne, a lecturer, will serve as co-moderator of the debate with senior journalism student Cameron Hurst. Students from the campus television station, SBU-TV, under the leadership of lecturers Anna Bulszewicz and Michael Spong, will produce and livestream the debate via SBU-TV’s Facebook page, @SBUTV9.
“This debate is the perfect example of how the Jandoli School is a key voice in Western New York,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School. “It is impressive to see the entrepreneurial spirit of our students, staff and faculty to collaborate across media entities to provide the citizens of this area important information about the state Senate candidates.”
“TAPInto Greater Olean and the Jandoli Institute share a common goal, namely to educate and inform the citizenry,” Lee said. “By sponsoring this debate, we are taking a big step forward toward this common goal.”
The 57th Senate district, which encompasses Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and parts of Livingston counties, has remained without a representative since the March resignation of Young, a 1982 St. Bonaventure journalism graduate who had served as state senator since 2005. The winner of the Nov. 5 special election will fill the vacancy for a year before the 2020 general election, when voters elect a state senator for a full two-year term.
Borrello, who serves as Chautauqua County executive, said he is pleased to visit campus to take part in this debate.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to come to the beautiful St. Bonaventure campus to share my thoughts, plans and experiences,” said Borrello, whose name will appear on the Republican, Conservative, Libertarian and Independence lines. “I look forward to engaging with this wonderful community.”
Austin Morgan, who received his degree in human development from Cornell University in May and will appear on the Democratic and Working Families lines, said he is also excited to be part of one of the Jandoli Institute’s initial activities and to participate in the debate.
“The more voters who hear our message, especially students who might be voting for the first time, and the more voters we can bring into the political process, the better our region and our state is for all of us,” he said. “When we have a strong, independent media landscape that lifts up the truth, our politics and our representatives are made stronger for it.”
The debate will be conducted without a live audience. It will be livestreamed through SBU-TV and posted online afterward on TAPInto Greater Olean’s website www.tapinto.net/towns/greater-olean/.