Students competing for A.S. offices squared off against one another in two debates that at times included hostile exchanges and allegations of deceit.
Face-off:
Stretched over two debates in two consecutive days, candidates answered questions about campus policies and laid out their personal plans, if elected. The first debate aired on Student-Run Television on March 29, and included all executive office candidates. The next day, a separate Price Center contest featured A.S. presidential candidates and also touched on two referenda included on the ballot.
The questions gave much attention to the practicality of A.S. slate platforms and statements offered by the competitors. A.S. presidential candidate Daniel Watts’ Sun God Party has built its campaign around establishing a second Sun God festival, a message that was echoed during the debates.
“We represent all students because we have a platform all students can get behind,” Watts said during the presidential debates. “Who doesn’t want two Sun God festivals?”
Watts said he plans to pay for the event by cutting multiple funds from the Associated Students, including stipends and travel budgets.With the aid of sponsorship money that Watts accused the A.S. Council of dragging its feet in pursuing, raising student fees to pay for a second Sun God festival is possible, he said.
However, the slate’s opponents called the plan unfeasible. Revolution! slate commissioner of programming candidate Eric Morris said that the $88,000 budgeted for a second Sun God festival does not cover production costs, let alone booking costs for acts.
“The money needed for a second festival is nonexistent,” he said. “The two Sun God thing is a lot of hype. I’m not against a second Sun God, but I’m against the way [the Sun God Party] is doing it; it’s not something you can do with just shifting money around.”
Morris also said that much of the money in Watts’ budget assumes large and unlikely corporate sponsorships.
However, Morris’ opponent on the Sun God Party slate, Tammie Nguyen, countered that, while corporate sponsorship would help the festival budget considerably, it was not required.
“According to our budget, a second Sun God is feasible,” Nguyen said. “It’s not something impossible to do. The $88,000 we propose in our budget for a second Sun God is a smaller amount in case we get no corporate sponsorship. But we can get it — it’s not impossible to do.”
Watts said a smaller festival, which his slate dubbed “Son of Sun God,” will not cost as much as the current festival, but will still be “FallFest times 10.”
Independent presidential candidate Keshav “Kiki” Boddula advocated the possibility of another festival, as long as it aligned with financial realities and students’ desires.
Student Empowerment! presidential candidate Christopher Sweeten said he supported using any potential funds for a second Sun God on student organizations instead.
An extra Sun God aside, candidates had much to say on issues ranging from campus controversies to national politics.
The matter of meal point usage was debated between Revolution! slate’s Angela Chen and Sun God Party’s Tali Shousterman, both candidates for commissioner of enterprise operations.
“I’m in support of re-establishing the use of meal points for Grove Caffe and other A.S. enterprises,” Shousterman said. “I look at this position as CEO of ‘A.S. business.’ We need to show administration that even though we are students, we are professional. We need to change the way we talk to administration.”
Chen, who worked in the enterprises office for the past year, contended that this was a year of reconstruction. She added that A.S. negotiations are under way with Director of Housing and Dining Services Mark P. Cunningham concerning the expansion of meal point plans.
Shousterman proposed bringing a gourmet ice cream cart to UCSD, which Chen called “procedurally impossible.”
“I’m not going to promise anything that can’t be done,” Chen said.
Viability was again a theme in the debates for vice president of finance between Sun God Party’s Erik Ward and Revolution! candidate Greg Murphy. Cutting A.S. stipends would not only allow for the “Son of Sun God,” but also more money for student athletics and organizations, Ward said.
However, Murphy was skeptical of the plans.
“I believe that saying it’s going to happen is not reality,” Murphy said. “It relies a lot on corporate sponsorships.”
Ward responded that regardless of sponsorships, all areas of his slate’s budget are realistic.
Revolution! members also questioned if the Sun God Party’s budget could be passed at all, since the slate has five senatorial candidates on the ballot, who would sit on a 24-senator council. Budget approval requires a majority vote by the A.S. Council.
“The budget won’t get passed even if all [Sun God Party] senators are elected,” Revolution! presidential candidate Kevin Hanson said. “Five of 24 votes are not even near a majority.”
Watts pointed out that current A.S. President Jenn Pae ran as an independent, which allotted her no initial senatorial support. Even then, Pae was able to pass her budget, Watts said. In addition, the Sun God Party is gathering support outside of its slate by endorsing other candidates, he said.
Expressing a concern echoed by many campus cultural organizations, candidates for the commissioner of diversity affairs debated ideas to increase diversity on a campus that contains a student population that is less than 1 percent African American.
“It’s a socioeconomic issue,” Sun God Party candidate Parris Bass said. “One in 200 students come from underrepresented schools.”
Bass suggested strengthening the University of California’s Eligibility in Local Context program, which guarantees admission to any students within the top 4 percent of their high school class. Yee Lee from Revolution! slate and Eiko Arseniak of the Student Empowerment! slate advocated outreach to increase diversity.
“It means a lot to high school kids to come out and experience what college is like,” Arseniak said. “Programs like [the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services] and the Preuss School are great. With programs like those, students have the ability to gain further access to academics.”
Candidates also debated student access to campus government, which some contenders said has been lacking in the past years.
Revolution! vice president internal candidate Angela Fornero suggested that proper organization of A.S. meetings would maximize student involvement and interest.
“The [vice president] internal is the one that sets the tone for entire meetings,” she said. “Council caucuses and presentations need to be regulated or be submitted earlier.”
Fornero’s opponent, Wayne Klitofsky of the Sun God Party slate, said that communication with students is key to making senators accountable to their positions.
“We need to give students reason to show up at A.S. meetings,” he said. “Every student needs to know there [are] public input sessions. We need to reach out through [Student Organization and Leadership Opportunities] and [residential advisors] to let students know that A.S. represents you. It’s a matter of accountability.”
A referendum on next week’s ballot will attempt to solve the matter of accountability by reforming the A.S. Council’s structure. The referendum met both acceptance and neutrality during the A.S. presidential debates.
If passed, the referendum would cut the amount of college senators in half, while adding six generally elected campuswide senators. Having campuswide senators would allow for a more accurate representation of students, Sweeten said.
Boddula said that while students don’t identify with one of UCSD’s six colleges, he would like to see them do so. He added, however, that he is lukewarm on the referendum and needs more information before taking a permanent stance.
Watts, however, urged students to vote either way on the subject.
“If you identify more with your college, vote no and if you don’t, vote yes,” he said.
Despite the differing opinions, all presidential candidates agreed that they supported the Developing Opportunities through Outreach and Retention Services referendum. The measure would increase undergraduate student activity fees by $3 per quarter to support student-initiated outreach.
