The battle between the north and the south did not end with Civil War-at least not in Illinois.

Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, held a debate Wednesday based on the political divide between Chicago and downstate Illinois.

The panel consisted of six members, three representing each side, and a neutral moderator.

The moderator posed questions to the entire panel that dealt with controversial issues that are in Illinois politics right now.

One of the most talked about topics that the panel discussed and agreed upon, was education in Illinois and the “unfair” party lines that drag attention away from the needed areas.

Dan Freberg, a graduate student representing the Chicago-land area, mentioned that Chicago public schools and rural schools are failing the students not because of teachers not trying hard enough or students not wanting to succeed, but because of unfair funding.

Four out of the six panel members agreed that funding should not be based off of property taxes because of the large gap between city and rural taxes versus property taxes in the suburbs of Chicago.

“Everyone should have an equal chance [for education] in this country,” said Jonathon Williams, a downstate panel member from Palestine.

Other panel members touched on other ways that Chicago and the rest of the state can function better together through public transportation and “kicking out” the corruption in Springfield.

“We need to stand up and say, ‘no more corruption’,” said Bobby Mitchell, a downstate panel member from Palestine. “We need to say, ‘screw this’, and take our state back.”

Representatives for Chicago experienced clashing views throughout the debate because of the views of two panel members identifying themselves as democrats and one panel member identifying himself as a conservative republican.

However, in the end everyone on the panel agreed that something does need to be done about the divide between Chicago and downstate.

“Right now we’re the only state that has one major city and the rest is nothing else,” Mitchell said.

Other panel members shared ideas that they believed to be unrealistic but had a hard time finding other solutions to Illinois’ political divide.

“The only way I see things changing is if politicians can spend some time downstate,” said Chicago panel member Willy Morris. “If there was anyway [politicians] could do an exchange program.”

The panel ended the debate by putting to rest the sports team debate of St. Louis Cardinals versus the Chicago Cubs. With the exception of one White Sox fan, the panel was unanimous in the Cubs favor.

Jenna Mitchell can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].