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The University of Maine Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates sparred Thursday during the 2009 election debates, covering issues from dining prices to apathy toward Student Government.
Presidential candidates Ross Wolland, Brian Harris and Zachary Jackman squared off first, followed by vice presidential candidates Timothy Smith and Nyssa Gatcombe.
Harris said he believes the most important issue facing Student Government is student involvement. He said there is much more to gain from UMaine than attending courses and Student Government needs to reach more students and increase support for it to be more effective.
Jackman rebutted Harris, saying Student Government’s efforts haven’t worked. He said Student Government needs to do more than hand out pens with the organization’s logo on it.
“We’ve been doing these things … working with the administration to make small changes within, you know, the [Memorial] Union, bringing the Bear’s Den back, but it hasn’t worked. … We need to be the institution that fights against the administration because that’s our job; we’re students,” Jackman said. “We don’t work for the university. We pay the university.”
Harris responded, saying Student Government’s past efforts haven’t worked because it hasn’t engaged students enough. Harris said Student Government needs to go to students face to face and ask them what they want, not to “wait for them to come to us.”
Wolland, speaking after Harris, disagreed with Jackman.
“You don’t want to ruin your relationship with the administration,” said Wolland, who goes by the adage “you catch more flies with honey.”
“You don’t want to cut your ties with the board of trustees, because then they’re not going to respond positively to you. Yes, that’s great that you want to fight for the students, but that fighting doesn’t necessarily have to take such hostile tones,” Wolland said. “And yes, I’m there advocating, but I don’t do it in an unprofessional manner, in a manner that is disrespectful of the administration.”
Harris, responding to a moderator question, said his presidency would focus on holding student senators to their responsibility to go out and engage students in government and seek out their opinions. When asked how he would accomplish this, Harris said he would lead by example and require senators to report on the number of students they talk to, as well as encourage them to table in the Union, speak at classes and write or speak to campus media more often.
“No organization is legitimate without the support of its constituency,” Harris said.
Wolland reproved Harris’ assumption that student senators aren’t already held accountable for their responsibility to engage students. He said senators spend hours making sure the money Student Government allocates to student organizations is done responsibly.
Jackman said Student Government’s most powerful tool is the student body, whose members feel they aren’t getting enough of a return from the student activity fee and Student Government.
Harris responded, saying, “Zach said, ‘We are the voice of the students,’ … but we’re not the voice of the students if we only have 12 percent of their support behind us.”
Wolland said he would, as president, advocate for more affordable campus dining with more choices. He said he lobbied the deans and other UMaine administrators last year to create a peer advisor program, which he would aim to implement as president. The program would be a system for first and second-year students to meet with third and fourth-year students to discuss courses as a way to augment the traditional faculty advisor. Wolland said it would provide the “thorough sort of advising you need.” He said he would also work to improve the Bear’s Den to help it reach its full potential.
“My plan is to make the lives of students on campus better,” Wolland said.
Jackman said his presidency would focus on keeping the student activity fee — which funds Student Government — from increasing. Student Government spends three quarters of $1 million each year, according to Jackman who said, “We need to change the way Student Government works” by cutting its costs. He said he would wager most students are apathetic toward Student Government or don’t know what it does.
“I think that this is the biggest problem that Student Government faces: that students have this animosity toward this great institution that could be potentially very powerful,” Jackman said.
Jackman said Student Government has the potential to be more than a money dispensary for student organizations and can represent students more effectively.
“We’re going to be knocking on the president’s [Robert Kennedy’s] door every year saying, ‘This is unacceptable’ — 6 percent tuition increase this year, 6 percent the next year and 6 percent the next,” Jackman said.
Jackman said Student Government can keep tuition and student fees low by cutting its costs and becoming more efficient. Jackman said students’ interests should not coincide with the administration’s and that “we see that more and more often now.”
The three candidates agreed the university’s budget is the most important issue to students but disagreed on ways to approach improving its impact on students.
Harris said he, as president, would talk to the chancellor and try to get more of a student voice into decisions. He said there probably isn’t much Student Government can do to affect budget cuts, but that he would still try to influence them.
Wolland said he would let the administration know what Student Government thinks of budget issues; what students agree is OK and not OK in terms of cutting funding, and work with the administration to make sure important programs don’t get scrapped. He said he wouldn’t be able to change a lot, but he will advocate for students as president.
Jackman said Student Government can provide a student voice to the university administration more effectively than it is now.
Student Government has taken stances on political issues twice in the past two years; first on Power Vote 2008 during the U.S. presidential election, and this year concerning TABOR II. The candidates were asked whether they felt such stances are part of student government’s prerogative.
Wolland said Student Government advocates for students “on many levels,” whether statewide or national, and should take stances on various issues. He said he would be shocked to hear a candidate running for SG president disagree with him, which represents a turnaround from a stance he took Sept. 29 during a General Student Senate meeting where he argued political stances were not part of Student Government’s prerogative.
Harris and Jackman both agreed Student Government must advocate on behalf of students when dealing with political issues.
Jackman was asked how Student Government would decrease its costs while still increasing services. He responded by saying Student Government can become more efficient, and GSS can put more of its paperwork — such as the student organization approval process — online.
“I don’t understand why this doesn’t happen now,” Jackman said.
Wolland countered Jackman’s statement, saying he thinks the student organization process works fine as it is now and he is not in favor of changing it. Harris agreed, saying he feels the student organization approval process should be difficult, to prevent an excessive number of student organizations.
Jackman said he hopes to make Student Government students’ No. 1 choice for problem solving.
Walter Lazarz, former president of the Green Team — UMaine’s student-run energy-efficiency organization — asked each candidate to describe the advantages they have that their opponents don’t.
Wolland said he has two and a half years of experience in Student Government and has served as the vice president of Students on Campus and Residents on Campus.
Harris rebutted Wolland’s statement, saying his experience could work against him because it’s been entirely within Student Government. Harris said he is a fresh face and knows a lot of people on campus from various organizations including Greek Life and Student Government.
The vice presidential candidates, speaking after Harris, Jackman and Wolland, were asked how they would make Student Senate more efficient.
Smith said he would enforce the rules of procedure to make senate meetings more efficient.
Gatcombe said she would increase the power of senate committees to take the workload off of senate and avoid long meetings.
Smith disagreed with Gatcombe, saying he feels the committee structure works well the way it is now.
Gatcombe and Smith were then asked what makes them better than their opponent.
“I compete in speech and debate; I’m used to getting up and delivering speeches and being able to hold myself well in front of a group of people,” Gatcombe said.
Smith said he has more experience with senate rules and procedures than Gatcombe because he is chairperson of the senate Policy and Procedures Committee.
An audience member asked how each candidate would work to increase university recruitment.
Wolland said Student Government doesn’t address student enrollment often, but UMaine does and he would try to help the administration with its efforts. Harris said he would work to increase school pride to make UMaine a more desirable university to attend. Jackman said Student Government would set the bar “for student governments across the country” through efforts to increase enrollment. Gatcombe said she has worked as a campus tour guide and blogs for university recruitment. She said she would bring potential students to the Wade Center for Student Leadership and talk to them face to face about UMaine.
One audience member asked what extracurricular activities each candidate does outside of Student Government that would potentially make them a better candidate. Wolland replied it was unfair to exclude Student Government, because it’s something he is involved in outside of the classroom.
Harris criticized Wolland, saying the vice president of Student Government won’t be able to reach out to students if it’s all he or she is involved in at UMaine. Wolland replied it’s unfair to assume his time spent in Student Government would preclude him from reaching out to students.
Rebecca Dyer, the student representative to the board of trustees, asked each candidate to describe their leadership style in one word.
“Driven,” Jackman said.
“Example,” Harris said.
“Awesomeness,” Smith said.
“Empathy,” Gatcombe said.
“Passionate,” Wolland said.
The entire debate can be viewed at mainecampus.com.
Bangor Daily News