As the spring semester comes to a close, elections for 2014-15 student body president,vice president and student senators open.
To prepare for the elections on March 25 and 26, Student Niner Media held their annual Student Body President Debate, allowing the candidates for the head of the Student Government Association’s (SGA) executive branch to discuss campus issues in a public setting, and allow students to get to know the candidates before voting.
Three candidates campaign this year for the student body president position: Steven Serio, Venson Nunnaley and Omar Ramirez.
The debate was moderated by Niner Times Assistant News Editor, Sara Carson.
The first question Carson asked the candidates was, “What do you see as the biggest challenge SGA will face with the growing student body on campus?”
Serio, a junior finance major, believes that a growing student body will result in outraged students. He wants more students to realize the benefits that SGA has. In turn, Serio plans for him and his running mate, Ruthie Schorr to communicate more with students by having face-to-face contact with them.
“We already have 27,000 students on campus and not a lot of students really know about SGA and what it can do for them,” said Serio.
Nunnaley, a public health major, took the same stance as Serio.
He believes communication is an important aspect in spreading the word about SGA’s position on campus. However, instead of face-to-face contact, Nunnaley would like to see a monthly email sent out as well as more SGA events on campus, broadcasted on televisions in buildings like Cone and Prospector.
Nunnaley believes this would demonstrate how the senate is improving UNC Charlotte and what their plans are for the future.
Carson then asked, “Where do you think your responsibilities as student body president would end?”
Nunnaley was the first to respond, stating that he would like to see clearer roles established and see more accountability.
Ramirez, a social work major, sees his responsibilities ending as student body president, “after I had empowered the students.” He would provide new legislation, meet up with student leaders and attend student organizations’ events.
“My responsibility would end once I started having to do the work for the students,” said Ramirez.
Serio agreed with Ramirez in that SGA should utilize the cabinet more as well as be an outreach. However, this is something he has seen in the past.
“I don’t think my responsibilities as student body president would necessarily ever end until the next student body president comes into power,” said Serio.
From his experience as Secretary of Internal Affairs in the executive cabinet two years ago, Serio believes that he is very familiar with what specific duties there are in SGA.
“We need to capitalize on new things,” said Serio.
Transparency has been a primary issue in student government this past year. “How would you improve transparency with SGA?” asked Carson.
Ramirez wants many changes within student government. He would like to redo their website and input new information. This way, more students could see what is occurring within SGA.
Ramirez also believes that there is a lack of communication within student government. He plans for more meetings to occur amongst the three branches.
A new idea Ramirez brought to the debate was the idea of 49er town hall meetings.
“It would be something like this [debate] where the executive board is on stage, myself, Briana Cragwell [running mate] and an appointed number from the executive cabinet,” explained Ramirez. “We would invite all students to come and speak up about how they felt about being supported or not supported by the university.”
Another idea Ramirez wants to employ is for the Secretary for Academic and Student Affairs to hold more power over student organizations.
“These are going to be foot soldiers for the executive branch,” said Ramirez.
He wants students and organizations to become very familiar with these cabinet members.
Serio explained how two years ago he experienced a very transparent student government while serving on the executive branch.
“Through the minutes and keeping the recordings, you’re able to see hours after the meeting exactly what we talked about in the executive branch,” said Serio.
This is an idea Serio would like to bring back to SGA if he became president.
Serio is also interested in strengthening their use of social media accounts. He noted that all meetings are open and anyone is welcome.
Serio agreed with Ramirez in that he wants the judicial branch to be more connected with the executive and legislative branches because, “they are all core foundations of the student government,” he said.
Other than communicating with the student body, Nunnaley wants to see more involvement with student organizations.
“If you let people know what’s going on and have programs for students to come to and be able to know what you’re actually doing, then this is going to improve student involvement and help transparency,” said Nunnaley.
Carson posed the fourth question. “About five percent of the student body voted in last year’s student body presidential election. If you aren’t getting feedback from the student body, how can you address their concerns and in turn be their voice?”
Serio remains optimistic about voter turnout. Despite the five percent turnout last year, Serio hopes for a 10 to 20 percent voting turnout this year.
Nunnaley believes candidates should market themselves better, but wants to see more ways of spreading the word about the election.
“I see flyers in some buildings on the corkboard; that’s apparently not enough,” said Nunnaley. “Ultimately it comes down to getting the word out more.”
Ramirez approached the podium with a confident response.
“My answer is going to be short: if you’re not hearing back from the student body, you’re not going to be able to help them,” he said.
“We have to make SGA relevant… meet students where they’re at. How do we bring you to SGA?”
The eighth debate question was sent in via Twitter by UNC Charlotte student Megan Hennings: “What are your plans for increasing student attendance at athletic events, especially football?”
Nunnaley believes this is tied into school spirit.
“If the student body really wants these issues addressed, then if I’m elected, I will go meet with Judy Rose and Dean Reed Davis,” said Nunnaley. He addressed the idea of moving tailgating to the Student Union because it’s closer to where the alumni are.
He said this is also a shorter walk for students, and believes this change will in turn help increase student turnout to events.
In response to Nunnaley, Serio rebutted that it is impossible to make the change of lots because Lot 5 is a big donor lot, and Lot 25 is where the light rail is going to be in three years.
“Unfortunately it is not feasible,” said Serio.
He also touched on Nunnaley’s point about school spirit.
“We want to be able to get students to wake up Saturday morning and say ‘Yes! The game’s today and we’re going!’” said Serio.
Ramirez used his experience as a residential advisor to show how he would use their help, as well as that of residential coordinators, to rally students to the games.
The presidential candidates concluded the debate, having each touched on important campus issues in front of an audience that averaged about 60 to 70 individuals, ranging from students to staff members.
A full video of the debate is available at NinerOnline.com.