VP candidates debate; student fees and programming are hot topics
The campaigning continued at 12:30 on Wednesday with the Statesman Vice Presidential Debate, where the candidates for Programming VP, Athletics VP and Student Advocate debated over issues like HURD, student fees and university events.
Editor in chief of The Statesman Benjamin Wood opened up the debate by asking the candidates for student advocate for their thoughts about one of the current issues, Common Hour. Rob Jepson said it isn’t his opinion about common hour that matters, it’s the students’. He said he feels like there is so much resentment among students because it was “forced on them” and he wants to get students’ votes on the matter and go from there. Jason Russell said when he talks to students about Common Hour, many of them don’t know what it is and that is the main problem.
“It is just about getting the information out there,” Russell said. “We need to pinpoint exactly what students’ concerns are and adjust.”
Jepson and Russell stressed student involvement, and said their jobs are to cater to what the students want. The two candidates did disagree on the issue of student fees, however, and how they plan to address that issue next year.
Russell said his experience working on the USU fee board has made him realize that fees are never going to go down significantly because so many organizations on campus are asking for money all the time.
“It just isn’t realistic to see fees going down dramatically,” Russell said.
However, Jepson said after talking with Vice President for Student Services James Morales, he believes reducing fees is a logical expectation.
“There are a lot of fees in place that were implemented decades ago that are simply not doing what they were meant to do,” Jepson said. “Not only are student fees able to be cut, they absolutely should be cut.”
The programming vice president candidates, Jackson Cozzens and Zach Larsen, were asked if they thought bigger events were better, or if variety was better, and each had a differing opinion.
Larsen said a variety of different evens is beneficial and can appeal to more of a student population.
“Big is good, but variety is just as good, and important,” he said.
Cozzens disagreed, saying bigger is better. He said he wants to “make the big events huge” by having high-profile bands. He said USU is known for its big parties and bigger events are better than variety throughout the year. He said it “shocked him” to realize how many people weren’t attending events, and that is something he hopes to improve if he is elected.
A student asked the candidates how they felt about having more educational activities as well, instead of just parties, and both were in favor.
Larsen said that is a benefit of Common Hour, and he wants to see programming utilize that hour and bring bigger speakers that would be beneficial for the students.
The athletics vice president candidates, Ryan Baylis and Mike Woodfield, were asked multiple questions about their plans for the HURD, and both said they want to make that organization the “student section for sports.”
Baylis said right now, if students join the HURD, the only thing they are getting with that $25 fee is a T-shirt.
“I just want to get it to the point where we get students involved and make the HURD not such a waste of money,” he said.
Woodfield also said he doesn’t see much of a benefit to joining the HURD the way it stands right now.
Woodfield said he wants to increase the benefits of becoming a HURD member by adding things like discounts at restaurants around town, and have events that benefit HURD members specifically. He said having things like barbecues will get more people involved.
Baylis said one of his main goals if elected is to bring the Coaches Show back to campus. He said that has been something that has really bothered him this past year and wants to make it better than before. He said he wants everyone in the student section at games to want to become a HURD member.
Woodfield said he wants to focus on the retention of HURD members and really focus in on freshmen.
Baylis agreed, saying the biggest problem with the university he wants to see fixed is more integration. He said freshmen are the students who are out doing school activities.
“If you are living on campus, you should be a member of the HURD,” he said.
When asked if they thought the athletics fee that was increased a few years ago has been well spent, both candidates said USU fans are getting well over what they are paying for.
Another goal Baylis has is better organization and participation in the club sports on campus. He said right now it is hard to find any information on any sport and would like to see a website where everything can be found. He wants to have streaming videos and pictures from “every club sport we have” and make it easy to find information about how to sign up, as well as the schedule for the year.
Woodfield agreed, saying intramural and club sports are fun and relatively inexpensive, and he wants to get the word out through social networking so more people know about it.
Social networking and informing students through technology was a main point brought up by every candidate. Jepson said by using things like e-mail, Facebook and the USU website, more students will be able to voice their concerns and ideas. Russell said the USU iPhone and Android app is also an important tool those in office should take advantage of.
“There are so many things we have at our hands. We need to implement something that makes it easy for students to get their voice out there,” Russell said.
– megan.b@aggiemail.usu.edu