Candidates debate
Budget cuts and the proposed fee increase to support the athletics department and Aggie Blue Bikes topped the list of subjects debated Thursday afternoon at the Student Body Presidential Debate.
Of the seven candidates running in the presidential primaries, only one, Josh Nagao, senior, does not support the fee increase for athletics of $65.
Tyler Tolson, sophomore in graphic design and English, said, “Athletics is the face of a university. I’m in support of the fee increase. I don’t want to become like a Snow College.”
In four years, the average student would have to pay $962 for the athletic department, Tolson said.
Nathan Niebergall, junior in international business, said the athletic fee increase has nothing to do with a student’s interest or lack thereof in sports.
“I know that there are a lot of people out there that could care less about sports, that’s beside the fact. We could all donate plasma and about pay for that,” Niebergall said.
The athletic department can bring in revenue and recognition for the entire university and benefits even those that aren’t interested in sports, said Nils Nelson, sophomore in mathematics.
Nagao said the athletic department is facing serious budget problems. Utah State didn’t have enough money to support being involved in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), he said. Also, while facing widespread budget cuts and impending large cutbacks throughout the university, it sends the wrong message to the Utah Legislature and unfairly burdens the students, Nagao said.
“It wouldn’t be fair to say ‘You can’t graduate in your degree, but we can afford to pay for basketball,'” Nagao said.
Tuition costs will already increase 6.7 percent in the coming academic year, or about $430 for Utah residents and about $1,000 for non-Utah residents, Nagao said.
Despite nearly all of the candidates agreeing with the athletics fee increase, every candidate said they would strive to keep tuition costs down and student fees minimal.
The panel of potential presidential candidates was more divided over the other fee increase to be voted on in March, which is the $1.25 per semester increase for Aggie Blue Bikes. Three candidates, Chris Barney, Lance Brown and Nelson, said they did not support the fee increase.
Barney said, “It’s not the time to start raising fees for things that aren’t fundamental to the university.”
Tolson and Nagao said they supported the fee increase for the Aggie Blue Bike program. The fee increase would be negligible compared to the possible benefits that students can receive from the program, Tolson said.
The other two candidates, Jake Cook and Niebergall, were undecided about their position on the fee increase.
“Right now may not be the best time to do it,” Cook said.
Voting in the primaries will end Friday at 2:30 p.m. and can be done online from the Utah State Web site with a student A-number.
–seth.bracken@aggiemail.usu.edu