Four candidates for East Baton RougeParish Mayor-President had a lot to say Monday night about keepingUniversity graduates in Baton Rouge.
    The only problem was that not manystudents were there to hear it.
    At “A Conversation with the Candidates,”a forum sponsored by Austin 6, Forum 35 and LSU Student Government,former registrar of voters Nat Bankston, state legislator WilliamDaniel, state senator Kip Holden and incumbent Mayor-PresidentBobby Simpson addressed a scarcely-populated audience in the CoxCommunication Center for Student Athletes about how they wouldimprove Baton Rouge if elected.
    With six panelists attempting tostimulate a conversation among the candidates, the conversationsteered away from the routine issues of traffic and crime andinstead focused on improving the downtown entertainment industryand keeping LSU and Southern University students in town aftergraduation.
    Simpson said Baton Rouge needs tocapitalize on the “intellectual capital” at LSU and Southern, andcontinue linking them to create greater economic development.
    He also said he believes the key tokeeping graduates in Baton Rouge is providing them with goodquality of life.
    ”When a student graduates from[University of Texas at Austin,] he has trouble leaving because heenjoys his lifestyle,” Simpson said.
    Holden, who is running forMayor-President for the third time, said he would create an officeof Economic Development under the Mayor-President’s control thatwould communicate with the Governor’s Department of EconomicDevelopment.
    Holden said he would go out and findcompanies to locate to Baton Rouge so students will have jobs whenthey graduate.
    ”You can’t sit in the office,” Holdensaid. “I will go to Wall Street and talk to CEOs.”
    Daniel, who has centered much of hiscampaign around solving Baton Rouge’s traffic problems, said BatonRouge is losing its middle class and needs to fix the trafficproblem and public education system in order to keep young peoplein Baton Rouge.
    Daniel also said development of thedowntown entertainment industry is important to keeping graduatesin the area, but should already be established, not just in theplanning stages.
    Daniel said the candidates had the samediscussion about downtown development four years ago.
    Keeping with a similar topic, thepanelists, who included SG president Brad Golson and LegislativeAffairs chairperson Michelle Gieg, asked the candidates to recallthe last artistic or cultural event they attended.
    Bankston said he could not remember thelast one and angrily changed the subject after saying he is infavor the arts, but is more concerned with crime and taxes.
    He refused to answer any more questionsregarding culture or arts.
    One panelist also expresseddisappointment in Holden’s response, after Holden said the lastevent he attended was the Josephine exhibit downtown last year.
    After the forum, Renee Gravois, abiological sciences junior and one of about a dozen studentsattending the event, said she thought more students should want tocome to such forums because it was a good chance to hear what thecandidates have to say.
    Golson said he thought having the eventright after Labor Day weekend did not help the turnout. But he saida lot of players were involved in planning the event and the datewas set before SG got involved.
    ”It will run again on Cox [Television],so hopefully students can catch it the next time around,” Golsonsaid.
    Robert Scheon, a business administrationjunior, said the conversation gave him a good opportunity to seehow the candidates represented themselves and how they willrepresent the community.
    He also said that as a studentinterested in business ownership, he was glad to hear thecandidates encouraging small business and entrepreneurship in thearea. He said he was pleased to hear the candidates mentionPennington and the resources it can bring the area.
    ”Technology is extremely important, andI’m glad to see it addressed,” Schoen said.
    Michelle Martin, an art history andFrench junior, said the conversation did not flow well, and she didnot think the candidates were as prepared as the sponsors.
    But, Martin said the conversation helpedher decide where she will cast her vote.