Student body officer hopefuls discuss platforms, goals and ideas in debate on Sunday night
While a debate was scheduled for student body officer candidates Sunday night, the event turned out to be a question and answer session, and only had one rebuttal.
It came from Jordan Ticaric, the incumbent president rerunning for her position, who responded to a claim that senate needed new leadership by saying, “I think there’s a reason presidents have four-year terms, you can’t learn everything in your first year.”
Most of the event was spent by candidates reemphasizing their platforms’ goals, rather than shooting down other candidates or arguing.
Students who attended were able to submit questions for specific or all candidates to answer, and candidates had three minutes to answer each question.
The red ticket, composed of Jordan Ticaric for president, Jade Peters for vice president, Trisha Koors for secretary and Patrick Campbell for treasurer, emphasized experience and established relationships with administrators.
“Especially because of the economic crisis, we’re going to need to see things done without transition,” Ticaric said. “I have the past success to go to administration and say ‘I’ve never steered you wrong before.’”
Peters stressed the need for parliamentary procedure to be used more often in senate, and said having been involved in a senate-like organization since fourth grade, she’s equipped with the skills to make this happen.
While Ticaric provided an exhaustive list of everything that has passed in Senate in her two presidential terms, Peters said she was most proud of having cleared up a miscommunication about graduation requirements for certain minors.
As diversity affairs chairwoman, Koors said she is most proud to have organized the wall of stereotypes which will go up soon.
On the blue ticket, Kyle Malinowski is running for president, Tricia Anklan for vice president and Candace Esken for secretary.
The ticket’s campaign is called Jumpstart Campus, and is based on senate reform, unity, and identity and pride.
“The heart of campus has flatlined,” Malinowski said, emphasizing the need to rid apathy.
Esken said she hopes to increase campus communication by providing updates of what senate is doing in the Scout, however senate updates are already printed in the paper each week.
Anklan, who is not on Senate this year, said she would bring a fresh perspective to the organization as an out-of-state student, who is at the school “because she is 100 percent passionate about it.”
She said experience on hall council will help her in the position.
Nicholas Swiatkowski, Craig Mayer and James Lombard are running for president, vice president and treasurer on the green ticket.
Swiatkowski, a freshman, said he thinks it’s important for young people to get involved more on campus, because they will be the ones who get to experience changes if they make them.
Having served as a senator for the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils this year, he said his proudest senate accomplishment was adding hand sanitizers around campus.
Mayer and Lombard said their respective majors of business management and finance would help them in their positions.
Mayer said he was proud to have been the one to suggest adding holiday lights to campus this winter.
Independent candidate Tee Johnson is a junior who has never been on senate before.
Throughout the debate, she repeated that students have lost their voices on campus and she wants to bring them back. However, she never directly addressed how she would do so.
The event began with about 50 students in attendance, but by the end of its two hours had dwindled to around 10.