By Lisa DiCarlucci

The thousands of students who did not receive a debate ticket had a chance this week to get a first-hand glimpse at the decor of the Mack Arena for debate night Oct. 15.

C-SPAN’s “American Presidents-Life Portraits” exhibit, which was at the entrance of the Arena that night, was located for this week at the rear entrance of CV Starr Hall.

The exhibit stands on 8-foot panels, each depicting a portrait of the 43 presidents. Every panel, along with the portrait, displays key facts about the former presidents’ lives and administrations, a short biography and other artistic representations of people and events that were involved with the respective administrations.

The more recent half of the of the exhibit includes audio samples of public addresses made by each president, which gave insight into how public speaking has changed with each election in both style and influence.

Several portraits were also accompanied with mock ups of the original newspapers printed on Election Day, some dating as far back as 1876. The coverage of Election Day drastically changed over time: Older newspaper merely had a large headline and some feature articles, while papers today include expansive coverage that encompasses 24-page spreads with results, statistics and more.

Overall the exhibit provides a basic showcase of the progression of leadership in the United States.

A message printed from Brian Lamb, the CEO and creator of CSPAN, expressed the network’s desire to increase study and knowledge of former presidents, in order to better understand the current state of affairs in the United States.

CSPAN displayed their ‘American Presidents (Michaela Papa)