Presidential candidates speak at the Thresher/RTV5 debate

By Lily Chun | Thresher Editorial Staff

The Student Association presidential candidates gathered together Monday to participate in a debate hosted by RTV5 and the Rice Thresher.

The contenders included SA External Vice President Sarah Baker, SA Internal Vice President Matt Youn and co-running mates Martel College juniors Mithun Mansinghani and Zach Marshall. Thresher Editor in Chief Stephen Whitfield and Thresher Executive Editor Evan Mintz moderated the debate.

Mansinghani and Marshall’s presidential bid was initially rejected by the SA Elections Committee because it was late, but the candidates were put on the presidential ballot after the SA overturned its previous vote. Parliamentarian Chris Warrington was also in the running but dropped out of the election after he was ruled ineligible.

The debate started with the candidates introducing themselves. Baker, a Lovett College junior, said she has been involved in the SA since her first day at Rice as a New Student Representative. She said she has been involved in programs such as the Families Weekend and Homecoming.

“I’ve been in the SA for a while so I know what works and what doesn’t,” Baker said.

She said she has also been involved in the Student Admission Council, Rice Program Council and College Assistance Peer Program.

Baker said she thinks it is the SA’s job to enhance student life. She wants to make sure the SA is not dominated by a few voices or colleges and is accessible to everyone.

Youn, a Brown College junior, was next to introduce himself. He said he was involved with issues such as keeping spring recess in the academic calendar and making online course evaluations public.

Youn also noted that many of these concerns have been brought up by students themselves.

“Students really have concerns about these issues so the administration should listen to what we have to say,” Youn said. “As SA president, I’ll continue to … focus on very important issues.”

Marshall and Mansinghani were the next candidates to introduce themselves. Marshall said though he and Mansinghani acknowledge that they have not had much experience with the SA, the two of them have had several years of college government experience —Mansinghani is the Martel Chief Justice and Marshall is Martel Treasurer. Though he feels the SA is central in the role of academics and in its relationship with the Faculty Senate, Marshall said he feels the SA has overextended itself in the recent years. Marshall said he and Mansinghani are running on a platform of giving more power back to the colleges.

“If we can bring some things ill-managed by the SA back to the students, it will lead to a stronger Rice in the future,” Marshall said.

Mansinghani noted that the SA had done some great things but that the organization also had some weaknesses.

“We don’t think they’re in touch with colleges enough,” Mansinghani said. “Most people in colleges really don’t know what is going on in the SA and really have fairly little involvement.”

After the candidates introduced themselves, Mintz, a Hanszen College senior, asked them what initiatives they have spearheaded or accomplished during their time in the SA.

Baker said she some of the things she organized included a party at the Rice Art Gallery, tailgates and Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

Mansinghani said that though he and Marshall have not been very involved with the SA, they are running on a campaign of reforming the SA. Marshall asked the audience to look at his and Mansinghani’s individual records within their college instead.

Youn said he hoped to bring SA resolutions back to the table so students in the SA are not concerned about issues like safety and the environment. He also said he helped bridge the gap between the SA and the Faculty Senate.

Whitfield, a Sid Richardson College senior, then asked the candidates what they believed the role of the SA president is and what it should be.

Youn said the role of the president is to represent and lead the SA to find ways to give help to the student body on a university level. He said the SA president should let college presidents handle college issues but that university-wide issues should be the SA’s responsibility.

“The SA should … talk with other presidents to see what issues should be taken care of, express student opinions, show that to the administration and show [them] what changes should be made,” Youn said.

Marshall said the SA president needs to encourage college diversity and work with other college heads to work more efficiently themselves.

Baker said she feels the SA president’s job is to lead the organization, meet student needs, find out what students want, find out what needs are not being met, deal with quality of life issues and relay these needs to the administration.

“It is the SA president’s job to direct initiative, but by no means to determine initiatives,” Baker said. “[The SA president should] poll you guys, find out what is going on, get committees together, direct ways to accomplish goals. The SA president is someone who can pull together all the resources to better get what you guys want us to do.”

Mintz then asked the candidates if they would ever support a plan of action that is unpopular with students even if they thought they were right.

Mansinghani said it is important to get an accurate picture of what students want and to do what students want.

Baker said she would not do anything students do not support.

“SA is supposed to enact what you guys want,” Baker said. “If I thought something was unpopular like student safety, like with bikes … that information needs to be displayed to you. But my job is not to push through policies that are not what students want.”

Youn said he thinks it is important to note that SA president can express his or her position on issues and say what he or she feels and express to students why he or she feels a certain way but that in the end, the overall view of the students is more important.

“When push comes to shove, it’s important for the SA president to consider what students want most, and if they want one way, and the SA president another, [the president] must consider what students want,” Youn said.

Whitfield asked the candidates what they would do to differentiate themselves from the other candidates if they were elected to the position of SA president.

Baker said being from the south colleges differentiated her from the other candidates and members of the SA. She also said she would be much more approachable by eating at colleges or making appearances at college cabinet meetings.

Mansinghani said he and Marshall are running on a platform of significant SA reform and devolution of its power. Marshall said they would try to accomplish what students wanted, which, he said, the SA did not do well in the past.

Youn said he considered himself different from the other candidates in that he has the ability to execute actions and work with different people including members of the Faculty Senate.

Mintz then asked the candidates how they would deal with the increase in crime in and around Rice.

Mansinghani said the SA should communicate with students and inform them of safety measures when walking around campus or near Rice.

“We should communicate any student concerns if they feel they are being overly threatened,” Mansinghani said. “If RUPD or the administration is not doing their job, we should communicate that to students on campus.”

Baker said she thinks everyone can agree that communication has changed how people feel about RUPD’s strategy to prevent thefts. She also said it was a shame that people did not feel safe walking around campus and that the SA should work with RUPD to find ways to keep students safe. Baker suggested that having late-night transportation options for off-campus students would keep them from walking back to their homes late at night.

Youn said communication between RUPD and students is important to clarify confusion of RUPD’s practices and to continue resolutions that people have proposed regarding safety.

Mintz asked Youn in a follow-up question if he supports RUPD’s policy to take unsecured bikes and keep them at their headquarters until they can be picked up.

Youn said he supported it but that there were some problems in the ways the policy was executed. He said RUPD should inform students when they are taking their bikes. Youn said the SA has been working on creating an online database for bikes that RUPD has impounded.

For the next question, Whitfield asked the candidates how they felt about the recent surge in environmental activism on campus and if they would continue it as SA president.

Youn said he thinks the activism and improvements should be continued.

“Some people think the SA has been too focused on these issues, but I don’t think that’s the main concern,” Youn said. “We should continue with these [issues] while also working on student life and academic issues.”

Baker said she thinks the SA should help with environmental activism as much as it can. However, she said that the activism must originate from the majority of the student body and not just a few people or the environmental committee. She added that legislation should be thought out with enforcement measures included.

She also said it is important to work with the administration to make sure they are also on board so that the SA can aid in making changes that are not inconvenient for students.

Marshall said he feels environmental responsibility is important to Rice but that the budget spent by environmental committees has somewhat been squandered.

“I think the money is best spent by the colleges who have a more accurate assessment of environmental activism,” Marshall said. “I think the role should go to the colleges, and the SA [should] not give blank checks.”

Mintz asked the next question about campus-wide events, saying that some might consider these events to be under the jurisdiction of Rice Program Council. He asked the candidates where they draw the line between the SA and the RPC.

Baker said she does not think event planning is the SA’s job in general but that the SA could work with RPC to produce campus-wide events if students wanted them, since the RPC has more money than the SA.

Youn said it is important for the SA to work with RPC in the future and be involved in initiating events.

Marshall said the SA is in a prime position to work with the RPC and could coordinate events like a campus-wide treasure hunt or a game of capture-the-flag. Mansinghani said that there should not be a conflict of jurisdiction.

“RPC should do as much as they can, but it is limited in personnel,” Mansinghani said. “So if the SA can do it, then why not?”

Whitfield asked Marshall and Mansinghani a follow-up question asking whether instigating an event like a campus-wide treasure hunt would fall outside the SA’s jurisdiction.

Mansinghani said he did not think planning such an event would fall outside the SA’s jurisdiction.

Whitfield then posed a hypothetical situation. He asked the candidates what they hope to have accomplished at the end of their term and how they would have accomplished their goals.

Mansinghani said he hopes he and Marshall can look back and see that they gave more power and respect back to the colleges.

“We would have worked with the student body and senators to make the SA a much more sensitive and effective organization for student desires,” Mansinghani said.

Youn said he would like to see the SA be stronger in its actions with the administration but not take away power from residential colleges.

“I’d like to see students become a really important presence at Rice so students know their voices are not unheard and their concerns are addressed,” Youn said.

Baker said she would want to have passed effective resolutions and to have planned events that have a positive impact on students’ lives.

“It’s important to look at student life issues,” Baker said. “I hope we focus on more cross-campus issues rather than just academics and the environment.”

Baker also said the SA needs to continue to build a relationship between itself and the college presidents.

Whitfield asked, in a follow-up question to Mansinghani and Marshall, what it meant to give more power back to the students.

Mansinghani said this meant to have the colleges be an active force within the SA to have say in things like a blanket-tax increase.

“It would have to be approved by college governments individually before being put on the ballot,” Mansinghani said.

After a five-minute break, Whitfield resumed the debate by quizzing the candidates on specifics regarding how the SA functions. All three candidates correctly answered the questions.

The moderators then asked each candidate questions individually. Given Baker’s experience in RPC, Mintz asked Baker what she did to help RPC when it had problems with its budget and with hosting Rondelet.

Baker said she tried to increase attendance by telling people how great the events are and encouraging them to attend.

Mintz then asked Youn about Brown College’s pub night that was at first themed “Brown College Pub Night: The Matt Youn Experience.” The theme was deemed a violation of the elections code for exceeding the $35 allotted for each campaign. Mintz asked Youn if he agreed that it was a violation and, if so, why he let his name be used in the title.

Youn said he agreed that it should not be allowed. He said the idea for the pub night was brought up last semester but was canceled so the Brown Socials tried to host it this semester without knowing it was not allowed.

Mintz then asked Mansinghani and Marshall about their campaign of weakening the SA and emphasizing the power of the residential colleges. Mintz mentioned that the two had never been to a SA meeting before turning in their bid for SA president. He asked them to explain what they mean when they say the SA overreaches its boundaries.

Mansinghani answered that he actually does not feel that the SA is overreaching its boundaries and could in fact do more for the students. He said that the SA is out of touch with the student body.

“We feel colleges still are and will continue to be more in touch with their constituencies at the SA,” Mansinghani said.

“We’re streamlining it and making it a more effective tool for students,” Marshall added.

The moderators then moved on to questions submitted by audience members. Whitfield asked the candidates how they would envision using the SA budget and where the majority of the money would go.

Baker said she thinks students should tell the SA how to use the budget. She also said she wants to streamline the activities of the SA.

Marshall said he and Mansinghani think the colleges could most effectively spend the money. Mansinghani said in the end, he and Marshall want the colleges to decide what the budget is used on. He said many students did not know what was on the SA’s budget.

“In the end, we need to go to the students for approval,” Mansinghani said.

Youn said one reason the SA spent a lot this year was because there was a lot of money from previous years. He said he wants to work on a new budget for next year.

“[We need to be] stricter about how much money we’ll spend throughout the year instead of using it for things that won’t be of much use,” Youn said.

Mintz asked the candidates how their campaigns reflected their desires to elicit student input.

Youn said he plans to visit all nine colleges to discuss with students what he believes in and wants to do for the SA.

“During this campaign, I’ve been hearing about what students want,” Youn said.

Baker said she has been going to various colleges to eat lunch and attend cabinet meetings.

“I’ve also tried to be very visible to make sure everyone knows who I am so they can come to me and say, ‘Hey, you guys are not doing what we want you to do.’”

Marshall said he and Mansinghani solicit student input because they sometimes feel like passing things through the SA is an arbitrary process.

Whitfield asked the candidates what role they envisioned the SA senators and college presidents playing in the SA in the future as representatives of the colleges.

Mansinghani said senators were one of the best features of the SA.

“We think college presidents and senators kind of know what’s going on with their colleges,” Mansinghani said. “We would like to go back to individual governments as far as deciding what to do with policy issues.”

Youn said he thinks it is important to strengthen the role of senators and communicate more with the student body to find out what they want.

Baker said she thinks of college presidents as partners in making Rice a better campus.

“The SA can handle a lot of big campus issues,” Baker said. “But we really need to work with college presidents to make sure students have a high quality of life here.”

She also said senators need to get people excited about the SA and encourage them to come to the SA with their problems.

Mintz asked the candidates what specific things aside from lunches and meetings they will do in the first four weeks of their presidency to improve the interaction between the SA and the residential colleges.

Marshall said he would like to hold SA meetings in residential colleges. Mansinghani said he would like to attend other college cabinet meetings.

Baker said she thinks flyers should be posted and students should be excited about SA from Orientation Week to encourage people to come to meetings.

Youn said he wants to encourage more interaction between SA officials and also the senators and college presidents so that students can be more excited about the SA in the long run.

Because the SA spent most of its excess money left over from previous years in the past two years, next year’s SA will only start with the blanket tax income instead of a blanket tax income plus $10,000. Whitfield asked the candidates how they planned to compensate for this while maintaining the effectiveness of the SA.

Baker said it is important to work with the treasurer and set a budget at the beginning of the year.

“We need to get input in April so we do things for the rest of the year that you guys want,” Baker said. “We need to make sure what we do is great, and we’re not trying to spread our resources too far.”

Youn said it is important for the SA to use its money wisely and see what students want to do with the money. He said the SA propagated many changes this year that did not require as much money like communicating with the administration.

“It is important as a result of the budget that we need to work with organizations which I think is the true nature of the SA,” Youn said. “I think we need to not be alone doing our own shindig and work with other organizations so they say, ‘Hey, we want to join, too.’”

Marshall said he thinks a small budget would be effective. Mansinghani said most students do not know how the SA has spent money in a way that has affected them.

The moderators then asked specific candidates specific audience-submitted questions. Mintz asked a question for Marshall and Mansinghani regarding their platform. He asked how decentralization of power, talent and money could make a student’s life better and what specifically colleges would do with resources.

Marshall said people have a hard time coming up with ten things the SA has done for them. He said people have a much easier time coming up with things that their respective colleges have done for them.

“We’re not destroying the SA, just making the SA more effective,” Marshall said.

Whitfield asked Youn how he responds to the claim that Brown College dominates the SA and is therefore unfairly dominating things.

Youn said he does not think the statement is true and that it is important Brown is not the only college involved in the SA.

“We need to transcend that and focus on what every college wants,” Youn said. “The SA is all about the nine colleges and getting what the students want as a whole …. Hopefully, next year all nine colleges will be strong [in the SA].”

In response to an earlier statement from Baker saying that the SA’s polls were “flawed” or “skewed,” an audience member wrote a question that asked how the polls were set up this year and how they could be changed to be more effective.

Baker said the results were skewed but not flawed. She said that the voter tallies were usually dominated by one or two colleges, usually the north colleges. She said this was problematic when the SA uses the poll results to make resolutions. She suggested this be fixed by making sure voters in the south colleges are voting on the resolutions.

Whitfield read aloud another audience-submitted question asking Marshall if he was still running for treasurer of Martel and, if so, how he plans on balancing the duties of SA president and Martel treasurer.

Marshall said he is running with Martel sophomore Aubrey Sansing for the position. The two have been since elected treasurer by Martel. Marshall said if he were elected SA president, he would not be treasurer of Martel and instead would allow Sansing to take the position.

The debate ended with the candidates making two-minute closing remarks.

Youn said it is important for the SA president to communicate with students as well as implement actions.

“I think I’m the strongest candidate, and I have concrete ideas,” Youn said. “I’m not just going to give you rhetoric. I think I have the best abilities to figure out how to communicate with the administration.”

Marshall said he and Mansinghani wanted the residential colleges to be mediums for change.

“We feel the SA has a very important role: to work with the colleges for this change,” Marshall said.

Baker said students should vote for her because she has done a lot for the SA while being external vice president including Homecoming, Families’ Weekend and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. She said she thinks it is important students elect a president who will represent them well.

“I’ve been doing that since I’ve been here, and I’ll continue to do that next year,” Baker said. “Whatever you guys want to focus on, we can. And I promise as SA president we’ll listen to your needs.”

Students can vote in the SA presidential candidates at sa.rice.edu. SA elections begin today, and end Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.

February 22, 2008

The Student Newspaper of Rice University

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