Student Government candidates debate before elections

The candidates for student body president and vice president went head to head in the final debate of the Student Government Association elections in the Memorial Student Center on Monday.

The teams answered questions posed by Sean Hornbuckle, student body president, Lashawna Sampson, student body vice president and Jonathan Murray, SGA election commissioner.  Each candidate was given two minutes to respond to each question with the opportunity for a one-minute rebuttal for opposing viewpoints.

The candidates introduced themselves before addressing Hornbuckle's questions about the general concerns of the student body, their individual campaign platforms and Senate Bill 480.  Hornbuckle's question as to how they would address possible campus-wide budget cuts elicited different responses from each team.

The team of Randy Tomblin and Josh Sime favored belt-tightening by the SGA.

"First of all, we need to look at unnecessary expenditures by the SGA," Tomblin said. "We need to make sure we are not just handing out money hand-over-fist.  We also need to make sure that we pass bills that further student improvement and student involvement."

Joe Stefanov and Raymond Cousins took the approach of trying to find alternative funding.

"I would work to get more donations by reaching out to the community," Stefanov said.  "I would hope to work together with different organizations in an attempt to maximize what we can get done.  The SGA is not the only organization to feel the crunch.  We need to work together to get more out of our dollars."

Patrick Murphy and Samantha Turley wanted to find places to cut the budget that would not affect student organizations.  Murphy said the SGA budget was vital to their ability to help student groups.

"I think the money that is delegated to the Senate is very important to the student body and student organizations," Murphy said.  "I think we could reduce the salaries of the executive board.  I believe the pay is way too high and we need to decrease it."

Murphy said cohesion with the Student Activities Programming Board would be another key factor in making the SGA budget stretch.

Candidates also answered questions about veterans, getting commuter students and freshmen involved on campus and their first priority if elected.

Some students in the student center came specifically to hear the debates.

"I think it's very important for students to vote," said DeBecco Lynch, senior psychology major.  "I was pretty sure who I was going to vote for, but this debate was an eye-opener when it came to what the other candidates stood for and how they plan to accomplish their goals."

Hornbuckle said he expected the debate to be more competitive than it was, but he was impressed with the quality of the candidates.

   Students can vote from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 16 and 17.  Polling stations are located in the Memorial Student Center and the Marshall Recreation Center.

Alyssa Salyers can be contacted at salyers@marshall.edu.