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Candidates battle a menagerie of issues in debate:
SGA presidential/vice presidential debate brings issues to forefront for students
The Pointer
jglod170@uwsp.edu
Students gathered throughout the Dreyfus University Center Theater to see the battle with Student Government Association presidential and vice presidential teams facing off in a debate on Monday, March 2. Moderators Holly Ehrhardt and Andrew Letson read prepared questions and collected questions from the audience to get a variety of inquisitions on a myriad of topics.
This year, there are two teams competing for the SGA administrative posts. One team is that of Scott Asbach and Nathaniel Schultz and the other is Saul Newton and Kelly Krumsee.
With the economy in recession, the university is faced with tremendous cuts and little room to budge. The candidates were asked what they would like to cut and Asbach’s eyes turned to the SGA Sustainability Reserve, which is used for students to request funding for sustainable projects.
“I really think I wouldn’t necessarily cut one thing,” said Asbach, presidential candidate. “I think there are some things that we just put too much money in. For instance, we’re very much sustainable people, but I think $40,000 in the sustainability reserve fund is a bit ridiculous and we don’t need it. If it sits there and does nothing, what’s the point?”
The opposition spoke quickly against Asbach’s plans, in favor of increasing the SGA Sustainability Reserve.
“That reserve needs to be better invested in, not decreased,” said Newton, presidential candidate. “That reserve gives students who want this campus to be more sustainable the funds and the support in order to do that. To cut that would be contrary to what the students want.”
Asbach responded to Newton’s comments, still pointing out the lack usage.
“Setting the Sustainability Reserve is a great idea,” said Asbach. “My biggest thing is that I want it to be used. I don’t want it to sit here and no one uses it.”
Newton’s team brought forward the plan to trim the University Centers budget as a way of saving money.
“One area that really has a lot of ambiguity in their budget is the Centers budget, and that is one area where we can really trim down the costs,” said Newton. “For example, a couple of years ago the Debot Center spent $40,000 to promote itself. That is an irresponsible use of student money and that promotions budget is somewhere where we can really trim the belt.”
Asbach responded with the importance of having publicity for the University Centers, even if some things are required.
“Some people say this is a suitcase college,” said Asbach. “If you make publicity in Debot, if you make it be a better place, which will be this whole new dining experience, people will stay on campus longer and you’ll change the way students think about it.”
The debate turned to the topic of tuition and how each team will work to curb the costs that are directed toward students.
“We are going to fight for what you want: lower tuition,” said Asbach.
Krumsee spoke out about the need to help students find financial aid and scholarships.
“There should never be a student who decides not to come to another semester of college or needs to drop out due to financial reasons. If it is, then it is a failure of the governmental body of the students in the first place,” said Krumsee. “We may not necessarily be able to make school more affordable, but we can make it more affordable through scholarships and financial aid.”
Local and organic foods also became a topic of the debate with many students wanting a change in the food options on campus. One of the problems brought forth about local and organic foods on campus is that the change would increase the price of food on campus; Newton disputed that.
“I think there is this misconception that having local and organic food is mutually exclusive with affordability,” said Newton. “There are ways that we can make local and organic food affordable for students. Most importantly, this is what students want. This is the most talked-about issue when I am out there talking to students.”
Asbach turned the topic toward what students really want and spoke out against the conception that all students want local and organic foods on campus. “I really want student input on this because I do have some concerns when people say everyone wants sustainable, because I think it’s a great idea, but when I see the number-one selling item in lower Debot , [it] is pizza,” said Asbach. “We need to get student input from everybody. I don’t want a select group of people to speak up and get this and then everyone else gets angry afterwards, saying, ‘well, you didn’t ask us.’”
With the General Education Policy Review Committee currently developing a new general education program at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, candidates were asked what they would change with the general education and how they plan to be involved with it.
“UW-SP definitely needs to streamline our general education requirements. We have significantly more than a lot of other campuses in the UW System,” said Newton.
Schultz meanwhile addressed the current problems with the general degree requirement system.
“It has to be more easily accessible. That is probably the main problem with it. Everyone has to fight for their general education classes,” said Schultz.
The next topic turned out to be about SGA itself, which changes they would make as president and vice president and what they would keep.
“I like the way SGA runs,” said Asbach. “I just want more student input. I want input to be oozing out of the organization like none other, because I think one of the things I see right now is a lack of that.”
Newton felt that the top concern for SGA was that it needed to change the annual budget process to streamline it for student organizations.
“The first thing I would start to improve is the budget process,” said Newton. “That is the number-one complaint I hear from student leaders, that the budget process is so confusing to them that a lot of times what they’re meaning to request doesn’t get done or they just get lost in the process.”
The debate came to a close with a final round of questions and final statements.
“I think one of the biggest things on our agenda is to really approve upon the image of SGA,” said Asbach.
“I think it’s about thinking outside the box. We may be just students but we really are able to make a difference,” said Krumsee.
SGA elections begin on Friday, March 6, and the voting will be distributed through e-mail. Students will also get the chance to cast their ballots for SGA senators in their respective college, as well as the ability to write someone in for any postion.
