WAKE TV temporarily resurrected one of its former regulars to bring some campus perspective to the national midterm elections Nov. 5. The special edition of The Advocates aired for several hours and included student commentaries and coverage concerning the political races around the country.

Though previously a roundtable program formatted similarly to CNN's Crossfire, senior Ryan Eanes, WAKE TV president, said that the most recent edition of The Advocates looked somewhat different than most of its predecessors. "This past episode was special in that it was solely students providing commentary on the election," he said, though he adds that the series utilized similar formats during past elections. The episode also featured an interview with John Dinan, a political science professor, who, according to senior co-host Jamie Kidd, provided a more in-depth and educational perspective on some of the key issues. "This provides some student interest in politics and makes it something entertaining and fun for students here," Eanes said of the show. "It's a nice change from the dry network offerings."

Dinan was happy to join The Advocates for the election special. "I was invited to offer commentary and context and some information about the election," he said.

While it's difficult to judge the participation of students in this midterm election, Dinan said he was pleased with his students' involvement. "I've asked questions of my classes of who's participating, gotten a number of hands raised," he said. "Whether it's just because they're taking political science classes, I don't know, but I was impressed by the level of interest."

Eanes was one of the original founders of The Advocates in 1999. According to Eanes and Kidd, the show began as an outlet through which students interested in politics and other issues could voice their opinions. It was originally affiliated with the College Democrats, but that association ended in fall 2000.

While primarily political in nature and content, Kidd said The Advocates has covered topics including "The Year of Honor and Ethics," the role of religion in society and health care. "Guests have included Wake administrators, professors, and students as well as members of the Winston-Salem community," Kidd said. "Libertarian candidate Harry Browne was a featured guest in the 2000 Presidential election."

"The show really took off in the spring of 2000," Kidd said, noting that The Advocates ran consistently during the elections of that same year. However, during the 2001-2002 academic year The Advocates was nowhere to be found.

"Mainly we weren't able to keep the show running at the highest possible level, and rather than producing a mediocre product we felt it would be better to actually just not to do it," Eanes said of the decision to go off the air.