AUSA Senate is holding elections this week and students can vote today until 9 p.m. and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to noon online.
Candidates have been preparing for the elections in recent weeks and tweaking their platforms in order to prepare their ideas to present to the student body.
On Thursday, the five presidential and vice presidential candidates gathered in Lindsey Auditorium to debate their ideas for campus and why they are the best-fit candidate. Senior Sen. Nick Sauer acted as moderator. The candidates described their platform for three minutes each.
A common theme was communication within the DU community. Candidates John O’Malley, presidential hopeful, and his running mate, Alden Schiller, feel that Senate and student organizations should form a closer relationship without a student organization having to plead its case to the Senate. Instead, they want to appoint senators to attend four to five different student organization meetings per quarter in order to gain a better feel for what those organizations need and what they do.
Presidential hopeful Yusuf Malik and his runningmate Lauren Kwan think that DU needs to living up to its full potential. They are looking to promote events geared toward the student population such as Fall Fest, concerts on the green and throwing tailgating events before lacrosse and hockey games. They concentrated on the issue of student input and motivation on campus.
Presidential candidate Matthew MacDonald, and his running mate Daniel Goldware, pledge to bring softer toilet paper throughout campus. They also said they don’t think the student activity fee and tuition should always be raised and senate should consider other fundraising opportunities, like through alumni.
Candidates Zak Brewer, president, and Chris Sturges, vice president, said that they are very passionate about their plan. Brewer said their focus will be on communication, new furniture in Village Commons, creating better relations with the administration and boosting tradition on campus.
Another issue discussed was the reformation of funding. Students currently pay a $70 activity fee. Many candidates posted the question “where is the money going?”
Utilization of the campus green and school-sponsored events was another theme of the night. After presenting platforms, candidates had the opportunity to present questions to one another. Vice president hopeful Molly Brown questioned Brewer and Sturges’s inexperience in working with AUSA Senate and how they thought they could beat the other candidates who have acted as senators. They replied that their non-experience on AUSA Senate is their best quality. “We feel we have a fresh voice and connection with the student body,” said Sturges. “We are very enthusiastic.”
Malik also directed a question to Brewer and Sturges on how they would work for better food, like the two have been promoting in their campaign. “It is going to be an uphill battle,” said Brewer, “but we are forming a working relationship with the administration.” He said they like the idea of putting student input in their food.
Brown asked the audience who they would want running AUSA Senate in the candidates’ final statements. She said that it may be funny now to talk about softer toilet paper on campus, a jab at Matthew MacDonald and Daniel Goldware’s campaign, but the president and vice president should be professional. Brown said that the two of them have kept their promises in Senate and have done a lot to help. “We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.”
In O’Malley and Schiller’s final statement, they said they are representing everyone. “We most accurately represent what this campus is about,” Schiller said. “We’ll be there for everyone.”
MacDonald and Goldware talked about their ability to work well together. MacDonald said they have been a good team in the past, and “their next step is president and vice president of the school.”
