Candidates for A.S. president and other executive cabinet positions squared off for a series of debates hosted by Student Run Television’s “News Junkies” program on March 30. While some candidates were unable to participate, many who did said they found the debates to be a useful means of developing their platforms and reaching voters. Candidates were asked pre-determined questions and given 60 seconds each to respond, followed by 30 seconds each for rebuttals. They also responded to questions called in by viewers.
“I see it as a great opportunity for students to see how the candidates react, how the [other candidates] view our statements and what the students think is important,” independent A.S. presidential candidate Jenn Pae said.
The presidential candidates, Students First! candidate Harish Nandagopal, Unity candidate Jeremy Cogan, and independents Pae and Steve York, debated the issues of student fees, parking and school spirit. In order to offset rising student fees, Cogan proposed to find more effective means of generating revenue. Pae and Nandagopal focused on fighting further fee hikes by working with the administration. Taking a contrary viewpoint, York contended that only increased enrollment could stem rising fees and noted his opponents’ involvement in passing the Unversity Centers Expansion Fee Referendum last year.
“I’m going to stop chasing the boogeyman in Sacramento,” York said. “The budget cuts are hitting the whole country … the only way to stop [fee hikes] is to bring more students into the mix.”
Pae, Cogan and Nandagopal stressed the importance of convenient parking for students. Pae pledged to work with administration to improve planning for parking. Cogan proposed a more effective shuttle system and cited his experience working with Transportation & Parking Services. Nandagopal promised to fight the administration on the issue of student parking. York argued that the parking problem is overblown and that students should make use of the Regents parking lot.
On the issue of student apathy, York proposed to increase student interest on campus through more funding for student media, such as SRTV and on-campus publications. Nandagopal and Pae proposed to increase funding for programming, events and athletics to bolster student pride and recognition for UCSD. Cogan proposed to encourage student organizations to work and collaborate on campus events.
Commissioner position debates were equally contentious. Brian Uiga and Hillary Elder, two candidates for A.S. Commissioner of Communications, clashed on the issue of content-neutral funding, Elder speaking of her experience as assistant commissioner of communications. Uiga confronted Elder on her record, citing decreased funding for the Koala last year.
“The sky will turn black as coal and the oceans will boil with the blood of the innocent before I see you on council,” Uiga said.
Unity candidate Emily M.R. Castor and independent candidate Amilcar Diaz, also running for Commissioner of Communications, did not participate.
Commissioner for diversity affairs candidate and Unity slate member Steven Lei spoke unopposed and stressed the need to improve diversity on the UCSD campus. Students First! candidate Chris Sweeten was unable to attend due to resident advisor meetings and illness, but pledged to fight for election nonetheless.
“[I think it hurts my chances], but at the same time, I just have to keep hope and talk to as many people as possible on an individual basis,” Sweeten said.
In the debate for vice president finance candidates, Unity candidate Denis Shmidt and Students First! candidate Kevin Hanson agreed that funding allocation process should be streamlined, but disagreed on how to reach out to students. Hanson stressed ties to student organizations and Shmidt touted his experience as financial controller and vowed to reach out to individual students as well as student organizations.
In the debate between vice president academic affairs candidates, Students First! candidate Caroline Song and Unity candidate Jared Feldman concurred on their support for increased funding for outreach programs and ethnic studies classes. They disagreed on how to raise UCSD’s profile in the humanities and social sciences. Feldman proposed to attract more distinguished professors, while Song called for greater appreciation for instructors already on campus.
Vice president internal candidate Melinda Gibson, who is on the Unity slate, and Cat Yapyuco, who is on the Students First! slate, agreed that Associated Students needs to increase diversity, but differed on the source of the diversity. Yapyuco advocated the Students First! platform of increasing participation from student organizations, while Gibson promised to solicit more input from all individuals, including those who don’t participate in campus organizations.
Unity commissioner of student services candidate Kelly Vasant also spoke unopposed, as Students First! candidate Kian Maleki was unable to appear. Vasant used her time to stress her experience as this year’s commissioner of student services and proposed new marketing schemes to promote student services, such as student flyers focusing on keywords and catchphrases.
Neither of the candidates for Commissioner of Athletics were able to attend, while vice president external candidate Rigo Marquez is running unopposed.
The debates will rerun on SRTV and more information about the candidates can be found at http://as.ucsd.edu.
