{"id":104046,"date":"2016-11-04T11:35:03","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T15:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=104046"},"modified":"2024-07-01T17:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T21:00:02","slug":"slideshow-presidential-politics-vs-not-real-smallpox-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2016\/11\/04\/slideshow-presidential-politics-vs-not-real-smallpox-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Slideshow: Presidential politics vs. (not-real) smallpox crisis, hour by hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eighteen students in the course \u201cPresidential Campaign Rhetoric” have been going full tilt on a mock White House campaign since September.<\/p>\n

And today, Oct. 25, full tilt becomes warp speed as the Republican and Democratic campaigns face what’s known in politics as an October surprise.<\/p>\n

8:28 a.m. \u2014 It\u2019s a crisis! (Well, not really)<\/h3>\n

Associate Professor of Rhetoric Stephanie Kelley-Romano steps to the lectern in a first-floor Pettigrew Hall lounge and gets right to the point.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re being brought into a crisis that\u2019s international in scope,\u201d she tells the students seated before her. \u201cAnd you\u2019re being brought into the loop because it\u2019s your job to help communicate the crisis, announce a plan to deal with it, and to calm the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not your average class assignment. Then again, Presidential Campaign Rhetoric isn\u2019t your average course.<\/p>\n

\"Associate<\/a>

Associate Professor of Rhetoric Stephanie Kelley-Romano announces the (not real) smallpox outbreak. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

8:32 a.m. \u2014 And the campaign is on!<\/h3>\n

Each campaign has already developed biographies and platforms, the Dems offering \u201cProgress We Can Count On\u201d and the Republicans, \u201cThe Future We Deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve held conventions, deployed candidate videos, held debates, used polling data collected by a sociology course, consulted with a music course on campaign music, reacted to attack ads, and, today, have to face a crisis.<\/p>\n

All that has drawn in hundreds of other students: \u201cvoters,\u201d more than 600 at last count, who include all rhetoric and debate students plus students in 23 other Bates courses. \u201cPresident Clayton Spencer has registered to vote, as have alumni and parents,\u201d Kelley-Romano says.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

From left, Republican campaign members Jacqueline Forney ’18 of Bloomington, Ind., Molly Chisholm ’17 of Boston, and Honor Moshay ’17 of Los Angeles listen to the details of the public health crisis. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

8:34 a.m. \u2014 It\u2019s smallpox! (but not for real)<\/h3>\n

The \u201ccrisis\u201d at hand is an outbreak of smallpox in the U.S., and the campaigns have until noon to develop a public statement that will inform and calm the nation while announcing a containment plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, smallpox is supposed to be eradicated,\u201d says Gabe Nott ’17 of Bronxville, N.Y. He’s playing a Democrat from Maryland running for president. \u201cYeah, I know,\u201d Kelley-Romano says, deflecting the implied question.<\/p>\n

Another student tries to pull info from Kelley-Romano: \u201cWhat vaccine do you need to prevent smallpox?\u201d The professor doesn\u2019t bite: \u201cI don\u2019t really know. Maybe you should check with the CDC.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/a>

Gabe Nott \u201917 of Bronxville, N.Y., is the Democratic candidate for president in the mock campaign that’s a key element of the course Presidential Campaign Rhetoric. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

8:40 a.m. \u2014 ‘A real disaster’<\/h3>\n

The campaigns spend the first half-hour or so figuring out what smallpox exactly is \u2014 a reminder that they\u2019re young (or I\u2019m old). Lots of us were aware of the last smallpox outbreak (1972 in Yugoslavia, killing 35 people), but these students were born between 1995 and 1996.<\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t fear monger.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Democrats\u2019 candidate for vice president, Courtney Foster \u201918 of Newton, Mass., notes that smallpox was \u201ca real disaster\u201d before being eradicated. Campaign manager Amanda San Roman \u201917 of East Setauket, N.Y., responds that their statement doesn\u2019t need to talk about the horrors of the disease. \u201cThe public is not already worried about smallpox. Don\u2019t fear-monger,\u201d she suggests.<\/p>\n

A senior interviewer for Admission, San Roman has to switch hats because she\u2019s got two interviews scheduled at Lindholm House. \u201cSorry, I can\u2019t work on this now,\u201d she says, and heads off.<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0231\"<\/a>

At right is campaign manager Amanda San Roman \u201917 of East Setauket, N.Y. Next to her is press secretary Ian Erickson ’18 of St. Albans, Vt. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

8:46 a.m. \u2014 Is it terrorism?<\/h3>\n

The campaigns have split up to work. Upstairs in the Republicans\u2019 war room, they\u2019re getting clues about how presidents handle health crises by watching, on a widescreen TV, how President Obama talked about Ebola in 2015. Downstairs, the Dems analyze Obama\u2019s May 2016 briefing on the Zika virus.<\/p>\n

Like the Dems, the Republicans are trying to grasp the historical scope of smallpox. They learn that smallpox was used as a biological weapon in the 18th century, when the British intentionally gave smallpox-infected items, including blankets, to Native Americans.<\/p>\n

And now, smallpox and bioterrorism, plus some ambiguous hints in two official-looking memos given to the campaigns by Kelley-Romano, has the campaigns on high alert.<\/p>\n

The Republicans\u2019 presidential candidate, Molly Chisholm \u201917 of Boston asks her team, \u201cDo we need to address that?\u201d Downstairs, the Democrats ask the same question: \u201cAre the Republicans going to go to national security?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0304\"<\/a>

On the stool, Molly Chisholm ’17 of Boston, the Republican candidate for president, and her team review President Obama’s statement on Ebola. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

9:08 a.m. \u2014 ‘We need a lab coat’<\/h3>\n

On the question of whether to speak to the bioterrorism threat, Chisholm makes the call: \u201cWe need to talk about bioterrorism. As Republicans, we need to be the national security party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following her lead, her team comes up with rhetorical tactics, and Honor Moshay \u201917 of Los Angeles, the campaign\u2019s media director, is a font of ideas: \u201cWhy don\u2019t we get a Bates EMS student to stand next to her during her address? We need a lab coat, too.” She adds, “Maybe we could get Paul Menice,\u201d mentioning a well-known officer with Security & Campus Safety.<\/p>\n

Matt Baker \u201917 of Clinton, Md., Chisholm\u2019s running mate, texts a friend who\u2019s a Bates EMS. \u201cWe got him,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>

Matt Baker ’17 of Clinton, Md., is the Republicans’ candidate for vice president. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

9:17 a.m. \u2014 A short walk to another world<\/h3>\n

When Kelley-Romano told Nott to check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she wasn\u2019t kidding.<\/p>\n

A little after 9, the campaigns leave Pettigrew, cross Alumni Walk, and enter Hathorn Hall for their meeting with CDC consultants, aka students in the course Mathematical Models in Biology, taught by Associate Professor of Mathematics Meredith Greer.<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0613\"<\/a>

The Republicans, pictured, and the Democrats head into Hathorn Hall for their meeting with the CDC consultants, aka math students. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

9:30 a.m. \u2014 ‘We have guests’<\/h3>\n

The short walk from Pettigrew to Hathorn takes the rhetoric students from one academic world to another. \u201cWe have guests,\u201d Greer tells her students as the Democratic and Republican candidates and their staffs enter Hathorn 303.<\/p>\n

The professors give a brief overview of the mock situation before the group splits in three: Democrats, Republicans, and students playing the media.<\/p>\n

Greer and Kelley-Romano have teamed up before to deliver a public-health \u201ccrisis\u201d to the PCR class. That was Ebola in 2014, when that disease was in the news.<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0748\"<\/a>

Associate Professor of Mathematics Meredith Greer and Kelley-Romano brief the students. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Chisholm, in fact, was part of a student team that worked with Kelley-Romano to tweak the course during her freshman year. \u201cIt\u2019s really cool to see the interdisciplinary side of the course come into full effect,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u00a09:42 a.m. \u2014 Mars and Venus<\/h3>\n

According to the memos, two smallpox cases are in Massachusetts, where the Republican candidate, Chisholm, is governor, and two cases are in Washington, D.C., next door to Maryland, where Democrat Nott is governor.<\/p>\n

The campaigns are meeting with the CDC consultants to develop a strategy for containing the smallpox outbreak in their home states.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s slow going at first as the two groups, rhetoric and math, weren\u2019t quite sure what the other needs \u2014 Mars and Venus and all that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough barrier,\u201d Chisholm says later. \u201cThey knew a lot about smallpox and not a lot about rhetoric. We knew a lot about rhetoric and not a lot about smallpox and modeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 discomfort is part of the plan, explains Greer. \u201cThey learn so much from working it out on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moshay, the Republicans\u2019 media director, asks what seems to be a reasonable question: \u201cCan we quarantine a city?\u201d The math students chuckle \u2014 from their reading, they know that large-scale quarantines are easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Moshay tries again: \u201cWhat are the typical responses to smallpox?\u201d which elicits the most blackly humorous line of the day, from a math student: \u201cWidespread panic and death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0888\"<\/a>

Math students Evan Goldberg ’19 (right) of Belmont, Mass., and Joseph Torres ’17 of Los Angeles work with the campaigns during their visit to the “CDC” in Hathorn Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

10:30 a.m. \u2014 ‘That was awesome’<\/h3>\n

Math student Gabe Whitehead \u201917 of Shaker Heights, Ohio, who is working with the Republicans, uses a computational software called Mathematica to run various epidemic scenarios.<\/p>\n

He pumps his fist: He\u2019s figured out that a blend of vaccinations and quarantine measures for Chisholm\u2019s home state of Massachusetts would result in a manageable death toll. Without a containment plan, the model predicts all-out catastrophe: 85,000 dead. With the plan, the deaths would number 7,000.<\/p>\n

Whitehead shares graphs with the Republicans that show various scenarios. \u201cWhen we got the graphs from Gabe, that was awesome,\u201d said Chisholm.<\/p>\n

“How can theory be used in current-day life?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It also represented a communication breakthrough. \u201cWhen we outlined what we wanted to do in our speech \u2014 dissuade fear and show the public that we have this under control \u2014 they were able to give us what they knew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greer says her students were jazzed to link their knowledge with a real-world scenario. \u201cThey loved the feeling of working with data and with real disease ideas,\u201d she says. \u201cThis project has an especially realistic feeling, one that is important to see in math classes. All this theory we have learned: How can it be used in current-day life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_0859\"<\/a>

Math student Gabe Whitehead \u201917 of Shaker Heights, Ohio, talks with the Republican campaign. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

10:53 a.m. \u2014 ‘We don\u2019t want to sound paranoid’<\/h3>\n

The two campaigns head back across Alumni Walk to their Pettigrew war rooms to work on their smallpox statements, which they\u2019ll deliver in the Digital Media Studios at noon.<\/p>\n

Chisholm wants her statement to explicitly say that a foreign country might be to blame. She also says that the statement \u201chas to be a rallying cry. We are still trying to win votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her campaign manager, James Erwin \u201918 of Yarmouth, Maine, is more cautious. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to sound paranoid.\u201d A minute later, Moshay shows up with facemasks and a white lab coat for their Bates EMS person to wear.<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_1522\"<\/a>

The Republicans’ campaign manager, James Erwin \u201918 of Yarmouth, Maine, plugs away on the statement. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

11:13 a.m. \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t always know what I\u2019m doing\u201d<\/h3>\n

Amanda San Roman, the Dems\u2019 campaign manager, who had to leave to do Admission interviews, returns. \u201cI talk about this course in all my interviews,\u201d she says because prospective students “are so<\/em> impressed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tells the prospies that the course \u201cis more in depth than anything they\u2019ve experienced before. And it ranges so far around campus. We have all different groups coming together and teaming up to make this as real as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what does \u201creal\u201d feel like?<\/p>\n

\u201cAdrenaline,\u201d San Roman says. \u201cAs a 21-year-old student, I don\u2019t always know what I\u2019m doing in this. But it\u2019s cool to be going through it with people who are interested in it and who are trying really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_1272\"<\/a>

The Republicans’ printed statement cleverly incorporated the campaign logo and those of FEMA and the CDC. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

11:29 a.m. \u2014 Thai chicken<\/h3>\n

A half-hour remains until each candidate has to deliver their address, and 95 percent of everyone\u2019s attention is focused on prepping their statements.<\/p>\n

Moshay speaks to group\u2019s remaining 5 percent. \u201cWhat\u2019s for lunch?\u201d she asks. \u201cThai chicken,\u201d answers Michaela Britt \u201917 of South Burlington, Vt., who handles video production for the campaign. \u201cOh, that\u2019s good,\u201d says Moshay. Then it\u2019s back to work.<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_1518\"<\/a>

Moshay displays progress on their statement. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

11:55 a.m. \u2014 ‘We will not crumble’<\/h3>\n

Gabe Nott will deliver his statement first, and Foster, his running mate, tries to calm his nerves. \u201cStay calm and controlled,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know me,\u201d he says with a tight smile. \u201cIf there are two things I am, it\u2019s calm and controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n

The speech goes without a hitch. \u201cSmallpox has been eradicated before, and it will be again,\u201d he says, channeling every president from FDR to Obama. \u201cWe did not bow to Pearl Harbor…. We will not crumble now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_1754\"<\/a>

Nott delivers his statement in the studio of the Digital Media Studios in Pettigrew Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

12:08 p.m. \u2014 \u201cStay calm and follow instructions\u201d<\/h3>\n

While Nott delivers his talk alone at the lectern, Chisholm is flanked by the Bates EMS student Sam Whitaker ’18 of Hollis, N.H., who plays a CDC staffer, and Erwin, her campaign manager.<\/p>\n

Nott alludes to the possibility of bioterrorism without naming a country, saying that the \u201cre-emergence of the disease could have been an intentional attempt to undermine American safety and well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republicans hit the bioterrorism angle, too, saying it\u2019s \u201cvery unlikely\u201d that the smallpox came from a U.S. source. Chisholm goes a step further, mentioning specifically that Russia has smallpox stocks and that the outbreak \u201cis a new type of international terrorism to consider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the rest of us, it\u2019s important to remain calm and follow instructions from public-health officials,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have faced crises of this magnitude in the past, and every time, our attention to detail, our intuition, and our deliberate approach has guided our country. Events such as these endure as memorable moments of strength and unity for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

She concludes her speech by saying, \u201cGod bless America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chisholm<\/a>

Chisholm prepares to deliver her briefing. In background, Bates EMS Sam Whitaker ’18 of Hollis, N.H., gets ready to play a CDC staffer who will stand by the candidate. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

12:18 p.m. \u2014 Is there a winner?<\/h3>\n

\u201cThey both did well with the specifics of containment and using action verbs to put themselves in the action and in the solution,\u201d Kelley-Romano said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the lessons of the day, Kelley-Romano puts a fine point on her course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think life is interdisciplinary \u2014 a Bates liberal arts education demands the simultaneous consideration of multiple fields of knowledge,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Rhetoric, specifically, “prepares students because it forces them to consider not only the construction and content of what they see and hear but also examines the medium \u2014 radio, television, film, and social media \u2014 and its impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"161025_smallpox_political_campaign_rhetoric_1964\"<\/a>

Chisholm, flanked by the Republicans’ video production staffer Michaela Britt \u201917 of South Burlington, Vt., and Brennen Malone ’17 of Philadelphia, who plays the husband of Democratic presidential candidate Nott, confer with Kelley-Romano after the briefing. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mock White House campaign that’s been going full tilt on campus since September went to warp speed on Oct. 25: There’s a crisis in America!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":104113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,130,11012],"tags":[9828,10770,11246,10754,8163],"class_list":["post-104046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-collaboration","category-student-life","tag-meredith-greer","tag-politics","tag-presidential-campaign-rhetoric","tag-rhetoric-film-and-screen-studies","tag-stephanie-kelley-romano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104046"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123171,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104046\/revisions\/123171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}