Forum • The
Associated Students Inc. hosted a debate
Thursday in the Nugget for students
to come and hear what their candidates
had to say. Tracey Roman / Online Forty-Niner
Candidates
convene to deliberate issues
By
Mellani Lubuag
Online Forty-Niner
Assistant News Editor
Candidates vying for the executive offices of the Associated Students Inc.
gathered last Thursday in the Nugget to respond to questions ranging from accountability
and leadership to hot issues such as the proposed recreation center and development
of the Puvungna land.
The debate, which allotted equal time for each candidate’s answers, featured
questions from the Government
Elections Committee as well as questions from a student audience, which was
screened for relevance by the committee. Questions were posed to each candidate
including Zaira Tinoco, the only candidate for treasurer, vice presidential
incumbent Hironao “Hiro” Okahana, and challengers Juancarlos Mariano
and Angelina Ortega.
Presidential incumbent Jamie Pollock and contenders Meckell V. Alexander, Sean
Duenser and Shefali Mistry also participated in the debates.
“
It was an opportunity for candidates to answer questions from potential constituents,” said
Cortney Ronald, officer of the Government Elections Committee.
She estimated that, at its height, about 50 to 60 students attended throughout
the late-afternoon event.
The race for president, the most competitive of the election with four candidates
vying for the seat, saw a flare of tempers by some candidates and an open spectrum
of responses from radical rhetoric to more diplomatic and optimistic solutions.
Regarding the recreation center, Mistry said that as president she would be
representing the students and the decision to have a rec. center or not would
be up to them. Mistry also said that she was “completely and totally
against” building on the Puvungna burial grounds.
“
I think it’s disrespectful to think you can build over and push aside
an entire culture’s views for the sake of financial gain,” Mistry
said.
Answering the same questions, Pollock said that recreation centers are becoming
a staple of top universities and that if Cal State Long Beach wants to stay
competitive, this is the type of facility that will have to be adopted in the
future.
“
With that said, the university needs to find alternative methods of funding,” Pollock
said. “They cannot put the entire construction of this building on the
backs’ of students’— that’s not fair. We can look at
corporate sponsorship and other possibilities.”
Pollock also said that she would urge President F. King Alexander to listen
and work with the Native American community in regards to Puvungna.
Meckell Alexander, when asked the same questions, said that he was “all
for a rec center, all for change, all for improvement,” but not if the
sole reason for the center was to play “keepin’ up [with] the Jonses.” He
said that support of the rec center should not be based on whether other CSUs
have one, but whether the community supports the proposal.
Alexander also said that he was totally against building on Puvungna.
“
If you’ve never been on the end of the opposition, or the under dog,
then you’ve never known what it’s like to have to fight for something,” Alexander
said.
Duenser, the last candidate to answer the question, called the proposed recreation
center a “money pit” and said that what should be supported in
its stead are ethnicity and race resource centers.
“
This [the rec center] is the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen,” Duenser
said of the rec center.
Duenser responded strongly against the issue of ASI action over Puvungna.
“
It’s not ours, it’s Native American land and has nothing to do
with the school,” Duenser said. “And in either case, the ASI can’t
do a damn thing to save Puvungna or develop a Rec Center. It can’t do
a damn thing!”
Duenser began shouting before his was told he was out of time.
At the debates’ closing, Duenser proclaimed that a vote for him was a
vote to abolish ASI because he said there was nothing that ASI could do that
students could not do for themselves. Duenser also said that he otherwise backed
the candidacy of Shefali Mistry for president.
The vice presidential debates that preceded the presidential debates were less
heated with a series of questions about leadership and experience being posed
to candidates. Angelina Ortega, a candidate for vice president, arrived late
and missed nearly half the questions.
When asked about his leadership style, vice presidential candidate Mariano
said he believed a leader must be able to delegate as well as be willing to
get his “hands in the dirt.”
When answering the same question, incumbent Okahana said he drew his leadership
style of listening and analyzing from his experience as an international student
who did not speak English very well.
“
I come with very strong beliefs, but I’ve learned to listen to what people
have to say,” Okahana said.
The only candidate for treasurer, Zaira Tinoco, speaking about student fee
increases said that she was very skeptical about the fee but something had
to be done about the lack of income.
“
I’ve always been against fee increases imposed by the state,” Tinoco
said. “This was the first time that I had to think about a fee increase
that was proposed by the ASI and after looking at all the figures and all the
options I am very glad that it was brought up to the student jury.”
ASI elections will be held March 27 through March 29.
|
