RUSA candidates face off on campus-wide issues

The presidential candidates for the Rutgers University Student Assembly met in their first debate Monday night, allowing the University student body to hear and see the potential leaders for their student government.

On the eve of Election Day, John Aspray, Yousef Saleh and Sam Firmin debated at the Eagleton Institute of Politics on issues concerning not only RUSA members, but the student body as a whole.

RUSA Secretary Ashley Brower said she felt the debate went well and gave a face to the name of the presidential candidates.

"I think everybody acted very professional, and I think it was great for the Rutgers community to know who they are voting for," said Brower, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences senior.

RUSA Elections Committee Chair Ben West said each candidate brought a different perspective and level of experience, resulting in a successful debate.

"Yousef was most able to relate his personal life to issues. John had the most substance in answers, in terms of his experience with dealing with big legislative issues," said West, a Rutgers College senior. "Sam was able to talk about his experience working with the members of the administration."

West and Elections Committee Co-Chair Kathryn Jenkins moderated the event, asking a range of questions emphasizing concerns both RUSA members and students at the University voiced.

The candidates agreed on aspects of many issues, like the recent controversy over the University's alma mater.

Aspray said although the alma mater has a long history behind it, he is also opposed to any discrimination at the University.

"As a student body, we should come together collectively to decide on the way forward with this," said Aspray, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. "So I propose we hold public forums on it, allowing an opportunity for both sides to express their views."

Saleh also said the alma mater issue should be put to a referendum vote, agreeing it is the student body's decision to change it.

"If [the students] believe the alma mater should be changed, then it should be changed," said Saleh, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. "I don't agree with President [Richard L.] McCormick that we can't change it but I feel if the majority of students don't want to change it, then that is the will of the people."

Firmin expressed the same sentiment, saying even though the song is a staple of the University, it does not mean it cannot be changed.

"It's not up to one person to choose an issue like this, especially like something that is deeply engrained in history," said Firmin, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences sophomore. "It has to be the collected body of the students that need to decide on this."

Although the candidates provided similar answers for the alma mater issue, the same could not be said for the student organizations' frustration over the transparency of RUSA allocations.

Firmin said educating RUSA members about how to obtain allocations is crucial, but there could be better methods through transparency and outreach.

"I feel that RUSA allocations has been somewhat transparent throughout the year on how they go about allocating money and certain united expenditures they produce," he said. "RUSA allocations have done some good outreach this past year but there is always room for improvement."

Aspray said a lack of transparency for RUSA allocations is the exact reason for various student organizations' frustrations, which could be easily reduced.

"I believe that we should have more open budget processes displayed on the RUSA website," he said. "In addition to that, I believe there needs to be a more clear method of basically distributing information to student organizations on how to apply for funding."

Saleh disagreed with both candidates, saying members of the allocations board are dedicated and hold meetings open to the public to show what they are doing with funds.

"They post the allocations for each semester on their website and it also is voted on in RUSA," he said. "The only way it could be more transparent is if we put it on transparency paper."

The public also weighed in on the debate, asking the presidential candidates what their first action would be if elected RUSA chair.

Firmin said he would bring the student body and RUSA together, making sure they know they have a voice and a student government is there.

"RUSA can't do anything unless we have the support of our students. Right now, I would actually say that not a lot of students even know that RUSA is here," he said. "It's all about getting RUSA's name out and letting students know that we're here for them."

Saleh stated it would be to make a professional website, allowing for both academic and professional outreach for RUSA.

"After we build a Web presence, I would like to have a leadership retreat to tackle some of these problems," he said.

Aspray also said he would plan for an intensive leadership conference to take place over the summer, to make sure members of RUSA are ready to lead at the University.

"Educating new leaders is very important to getting anything done with a student assembly," he said. "I recently attended the American Student Government Association conference and learned a lot of skills … that RUSA members could appreciate."

West said the debate proved successful in showing the diversity of the presidential candidates and created a concrete image for the University student body.

"I think you really got to see they were three totally different people with three totally different approaches on how to do things," he said. "I think [the debate] is really going to help people decide who they want as their president."