[420 Girl]

The University's second speech forum of the semester, scheduled for March 29, was canceled due to a lack of student participation.

This is the second cancelation of the topic, the legalization of medical marijuana in Louisiana, which was meant to be debated in the first speech forum.

The topic has been unable to draw enough students willing to speak for the con side, Aaron O'Neal, associate professor of mass communication, said.

Erin Folse, art senior from Thibodaux, said she does not believe this issue will ever gain enough support on the con side.

"Everybody wants to smoke pot," Folse said.

The department also needs better advertising for the forums to get more students involved in the process, Folse said.

Farren Clark, associate professor of mass communication, said while some students would speak in favor of the con side in his speech classes, nobody would try out for the public forum.

Also, though some students would speak for the con side, there were many more who wanted to defend marijuana use, Clark said.

"In some classes, I heard students say that cigarette smoke would cause more harm than marijuana," Clark said.

Other faculty members said a number of other reasons could be attributing to the lack of student participation.

"Many distractions are available to students today," Alfred Delahaye, professor emeritus of journalism, said. "Many students today are holding down part-time jobs."

O'Neal said students have numerous conflicts that may keep them from attending the forums, such as taking night classes.

O'Neal also said that Nicholls being a commuter school possibly hinders students from participating in the forums.

"People that commute might leave after their classes and be unable to return after," O'Neal said.

Members of the Department of Mass Communication said they try to choose current controversial issues, whether they are on the campus, local, state or national level.

"Unless they are interested in the issue, they're not going to go," O'Neal said.

Organizers of the speech forums want students who are interested in being primary speakers for the pro and con sides to try out one to two weeks ahead of time. This way they will be able to work on improving their speeches to a finalized version.

With the date approaching and no students willing to try out, the speech forum was canceled.

"There comes a time when, if you don't have any takers, you cancel," O'Neal said.

While the speech forum is a chance for students to debate issues and voice their opinions, O'Neal said there is a bigger reason they are crucial to students.

"The success is not how many students go to the forum or what side wins," O'Neal said, "but to get them thinking about the issue."

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...ainst-pot.html