VIDEO: SG Debate 2012

Student Government candidates, Peter Cuderman and Luis Vargas of the Action! party and Kolve Byrd and Jeremy Forbes of the Revolution party, debated on the library lawn.

Below is a transcript of the debate with time stamps for each question:

Introductions:

00:28 -- Action! introduction

00:59 – Revolution introduction

02:09 -- Question 1 for the Action! Party:

Your platform states, quote, "RestoreRespect and Faith in your Student Government." Where has student government gone wrong that you would need to restore respect and faith?

ANSWER:

Cuderman (president): "The biggest problem with SG is not Lauren or Justin or certain people. Lauren and Justin did an amazing job with what they had to work with, there is other people running for higher office that were a part of some of the stuff that Lauren and Justin could not get done and what we need to be able to do is fill the void. The void being that we need to make sure students are getting what they want and that the things we are putting on these cards are not just stuff that isn't going to happen. It's stuff that we are going to get done with the funding that comes from the students."

03:04 – Question 1 for the Revolution party:

Your platform has ideas that require manpower, such as, holding roundtable discussions, publishing a, quote, "Eye on your Government" newsletter and live streaming senate meetings. These things will no doubt require a consistent time commitment. Who will be making this commitment?

ANSWER:

Byrd (president): "Thank you. Well first of all the reason we put these items on our platform is because if there is one thing that has been made clear over the course of the last year it is that students want a greater voice. So that is what we are going to give them. We are going to give them the opportunity to participate in roundtable discussions with their RSO leaders and it's going to be facilitated by myself and Jeremy Forbes, the vice president, because student input is a top priority for our incoming administration so they need to be speaking directly ro us. They are not going to be speaking to a middleman. That's why we have done this. We've decided to create student action committees because we want students that normally wouldn't come to senate meetings, that normally wouldn't come to executive meetings, we want them to have a direct influence in their academic experience and we are going to be taking their feedback directly to the dean's, directly to the vice president's, directly to the president because we want their voices to be heard. We are going to be focusing on advocacy this year. Enough with the big spending, enough with the wasteful spending, let's actually get some results and get back to basics. The basics of this organization is to be the advocate for students and to be in students corner, not against them."

04:29 – Question 2 for the Action! party:

Your platform hits on three popular issues to students: late night food, football and a campus bar. Is concrete planning for these initiatives feasible by the end of the next student government term?

ANSWER:

Cuderman (president): "In order to create a concrete plan to do these things the first thing we have to do is get the students really talking about it , the administration talking about it, faculty and staff and us as their representatives, getting the ideas that the students actually want out is the most important thing. The iniatives you just mentioned are a huge part of what we have on our platform. With that being said, we want to make sure those are what students want at the end of the day.  If elected, what we are going to do is a feasibility study on the fiscal responsibility and if two of the three can be completed that is what we are going to do, we are going to work toward getting these things done and what the students want."

05:30 – Question 2 for the Revolution party:

Your platform says, quote, "Eliminate wasteful spending and promote student-centered financial decisions." What do you consider, quote, "wasteful spending?"

ANSWER:

Byrd (president): "Something that comes to mind right off the bat with wasteful spending is SG's programming events that cater free food when no one shows up. I think that our organizations on campus, they need funding to host their own events. I don't think it is appropriate that SG fund itself for activities that it is not even utilizing. Not to mention the ace that in our finance code there are a lot of ambiguities and confusions regarding the budget process and we want to clear that up. It is not our job to tell you how to spend your money, but it is our job instead to make it easier to spend that money in a responsible manner. First and foremost, Jeremy and myself and Rosa Mendoza (Revolution treasurer candidate), the thing that we understand is that it is your money, not ours, so we are going to do everything in our power to facilitate that process."

06:30 – Question 3 for the Action! Party:

Richard served as the SG appropriations chair this year. Your platform says, quote, "Continue Supporting Sports Clubs and Teams in attaining national attention and achievements." Sports clubs took a budget cut of more than 100,000 dollars this year. Richard had a role in that cut. Where is the support?