Campus Press Staff Writer Rob Ryan is live at the UCSU and Campus Press sponsored 2008 Spring election debates. The debates are moderated by Campus Press News Section Editor Jimmy Himes and UCSU Spokeswoman Sally Ho. The questions were created by Campus Press staff members, UCSU Election Commissioner Sean Daly and Ho.
Question 1: What is your vision of diversity on campus?
7:10 p.m.– Response from Drive Ticket: Victoria Garcia said that it was important to keep funding the cost center programs that address diversity on campus.
Brittany Havey from Solidarity said that the ticket would like to create scholarhips for more low-income students.
Piers Blythe of One emphasized that diversity was not just an issue of skin color and said that their ticket comes from a wide variety of backgrounds. They want to “think outside the box” when it comes to diversity and work with the state legislature to make CU more affordable for underrepresented students.
7:15 p.m. – Dustin Farivar of Drive said it was important that tickets be representative of diversity in a wide variety of ways. Farivar also said that Drive would work with the advocacy centers on campus to help underrepresented students.
Brittany Havey said diversity was “one of solidarity’s strongest points.”
Chance Heath of One said their ticket had the best tools to improve diversity on campus and cited his group’s connections on SORCE and the Multicultural Affairs Council.
Question 2: The Civil Rights Initiative is trying to find its way onto the Colorado ballots and has succeeded in lowering the rate of non-traditional students in higher education in states like California, Texas and Michigan. How do you see the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative impacting CU, and how will you address it?
7:20 p.m. – Ryan Biehle of Drive said the Civil Rights Initiative is “going to destroy the opportunity” for underrepresented students that CU “desperately needs.”
Solidarity member Brittany Havey said they would fight against the Initiative if it made it onto the ballot in November.
Dustin Farivar of Drive said the initiative would pull funding from the current diversity programs on campus and that a CU professor is currently working on a counter bill, which the Drive ticket would support.
Question 3: A Disabilities Task Force was created this year to ensure that all students may have suitable access to all of CU’s campus facilities. What will you do with this task force?
7:25 p.m. – Chance Heath of One said it was important to consider how to make it easier for disabled students to get around on campus and added that working with disabled students was a function of improving diversity.
Dustin Farivar of Drive said that “disablility” did not just refer to physical disabilities and that it was important to take other aspects of diversity into account and help to meet those needs.
John Rineck of Solidarity also said that helping disabled students was a funciton of improving diversity and that it was important that tickets be representative of them.
Piers Blyth of One said that as chair of the UMC Board he has had experience working with disabled students.
Ryan Biehle of Drive said it was important to continue to fund the Disabliities Task Force so they can do their job and make the campus 100 percent accessible for disabled students.
John Rineck of Solidarity said no one could really not support the Task Force and that students needed to work with them.
Audience Question: How would the tickets restore the value of going to CU inlight of the recent scandals on campus?
7:30 p.m. – Dustin Farivar of Drive admitted that CU has faced some challenges recently. He added that the ticket has worked with athletic department to try to create positive traditions and that CU has been awarded nationally for its community service.
Brittany Havey of Solidarity also mentioned CU’s recent awards for its community service efforts and said that students should look at the good aspects of going to CU.
Sarah Martinez of One said that UCSU has not had open lines of communication with the administration in the past and that they would work to improve relations between the administration and the students in order to improve the campus.
Question 4: How do you see your administration working with InterFraternity Council in light of recent expulsion of Delta Chi. How does that affect the university affiliated Greek communities, Panhellenic Sororities and Multicultural Greeks?
7:35 p.m. – Rineck of Solidarity said that their ticket would try to work with and represent all interests on campus including the Greeks.
Chance Heath of Solidarity said he could not stress enought that the One ticket was committed to be a representative of the community as a whole including the Greeks. He said that Drive ticket member Dustin Farivar voted against a resolution that would have helped improve the Greek system.
Victoria Garcia of Drive said that Delta Chi does not reflect all Greeks and that Drive was dedicated to improving the relationships between all Greeks and the campus.
Rineck said that they were definitely willing to work with all Greeks, however the ticket would not place Greeks above the rest of the campus since they only make up a relatively small portion of the student body.
Piers Blyth again emphasized that their ticket’s main goal is to bring the campus communities together and that it was important that the Greeks do not continues to disassociate themselves from the univeristy.
Garcia, who is president of the Panhellenic Council, said that the Greek system is working hard to combat the issues they are currently facing on campus.
Question 5: With the restructuring of Student Affairs, how do you plan to fight for student autonomy?
7:40 p.m. Chance Heath of One again said that his group would work hard to improve the deteriorating relationship between the students and the administration.
Dustin farivar of Drive said Drive already has relationships with members of the relationship including vice chancellors currently serving in the administration. Farivar emphasized that it was vital that students have control over how their fees are spent.
Brittany Havey said she was amazed at how few students know about UCSU and that students were intimidated and didn’t know how to get involved on campus. She said that Solidarity would try to find new ways to reach out to students in order to get them more civically involved.
Heath questioned the Drive ticket’s ablility to speak for the students since Dustin Farivar currently works for the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
RYan Biehle of Drive, who serves as the student representative to the Regents, again said it was vital that student maintian control of their fees.
Havey said that the One and Drive tickets “need to have a group hug or something” and said it was important to get students more involved in the civic process.
Question 6: How will your administration work to lobby for more funding for higher education? Will you continue the “Show Me the Money” campaign and will you continue to work with ASC?
7:45 p.m. Ryan Biehle of Drive said the ticket would “absolutely” continue the “Show Me the Money” campaign and continue to work with ASC.
John Rineck of Solidarity said the campaigns were good, but more could be done. He added that they could only do so much without vocal student support, and that Solidarity would work to improve the transparency in CU’s financial system.
Chance Heath of One said his ticket had the tools to fight for students on this issue. He said that ASC demanded more of bigger universities than smaller ones and that they would favor working more the state legislature directly.
Dustin Farivar said that his ticket not only has the tools but has already used them. He added that Drive ticket members were responsible for founding ASC in the first place and that the ASC was important for making sure students are being heard at the Capitol.
Rineck said that new university president Bruce Benson would be an asset for helping with the tuition crisis even though he did not like the process by which benson was selected. He added that personal relationships at the Capitol would be vital for improving this crisis.
Piers Blyth of One said he has had experience with financial matters as Chair of UMC Board and criticized the building on new buildings on campus with student fee dollars.
Audience Question: Richard Leeds, who is running on the One ticket, asked how the tickets would continue to fund the cost centers in order to improve them since they rank as some of the lowest in the Big 12?
7:53 p.m. – Piers Blyth, also of the One Ticket, said he works regularly with the cost centers on campus. He said that CU has one of the biggest student populations on campus while having one of the smallest recreation centers, and their ticket would help to improve the rec center by trying to fund an expansion.
Dustin Farivar of Drive, who serves on the Wardenburg Health Center board, said Wardenburg has made several key improvements already this year and that he would continue to try to improve other cost centes equitably and fairly.
Quetion 7: How will you keep student groups, cost centers, club sports and other organizations run by student fees accountable? How will you, as UCSU executives, keep UCSU proper transparent and accountable as well?
7:55 p.m. Ryan Biehle of Drive said that the current system does keep cost centers and student groups accountable and financially sound. Biehle said it was important to continue to improve accountability through programs such as the Student Group Funding Board.
John Rineck of Solidarity said everyone knows the value of every dollar on campus, and the current financial system needed to be restructured. He said that some groups recieve way too much while others recieve too little. UCSU needs to prioritize which groups students want, he said, and consolidate groups with similar interests.
Sarah Martinez of One again said their ticket represents all CU students and that they would make sure the cost centers are held accountable because the One ticket does reflect all student interests.
Michael Mazzone of Solidarity emphasized that improving transparency in where student fees go would be key in order to hold groups and cost centers accountable.
Question 8: How will UCSU urge for carbon neutrality on campus, despite it being notably absent in the Flagship 2030 plans? What will UCSU do to promote sustainability on campus?
8:00 p.m. Ryan Biehle of Drive said CU has been at the forefront of environmental initiatives since its founding and that students are at the front of energy change. He said the Drive ticket would continue to support conservation efforts, such as Gov. Ritter’s new energy plan.
Michael Mazzone of Solidarity said that their ticket would continue to push for new environmentally friendly initiatives on campus, such as structural improvements on campus and other conservation and efficiency efforts.
Chance Heath of One said that CU has always been at the front of the push for carbon neutrality. He said that he voted for legislation on UCSU that supported on carbon neutrality.
Dustin Farivar pointed out that he helped write the legislation Heath voted on, and Drive ticket members are currently working with the adminsitration on carbon neutrality issues.
Sarah Martinez of One said their ticket would support programs that would increase the availability of public tranportation in the Boulder community in order to be more environmentally friendly.
Question 9: In light of the violence on school campus in recent years, what will UCSU do to promote the safety and well being of the students? In a crisis situation, how would you react?
8:10 p.m. – John Rinkeck of Solidarity said the ticket would create a campus safety committee to come up with new ideas to increase safety and said that CU needs to learn to work better with CUPD and Boulder PD.
Victoria Garica of Drive said safety is a key priority for their ticket, and they would also continue to work with CU and Boulder PD in order to make the campus more safe. She also said that they would work with student groups on campus to educate students on safety.
Rineck said the One ticket would also create a new position to be a liaison between the students and the police.
Piers Blyth of One said the Solidarity’s tickets ideas were good, and there is currently a lack of communication between students and police that needs to be rectified.
Dustin Farivar of Drive said his ticket members reinstated the health and safety director position, which is the students’ liaison to the police. He also highlighted the creation of the CU text message alert system this past year.
Audience Question: How do the tickets define women’s health safety, what is the current situation with it, and how would you solve any problems you see?
8:15 p.m. Sarah Martinez said there are “huge issues” with gender in society and at CU. She said safety, and women’s safety in particular is important to the ticket, and they would continue to support programs such as Night Ride that address safety concerns.
Victoria Garcia of Drive said it was important to keep in mind that men and women can have different experiences on campus, and they would be an advocate for women and help to educate students on these issues.
Brittany Havey of Solidarity said their ticket supports women’s groups on campus such as the Women’s Resource Center, and it was important to educate students on how to be safe.
Question 10:
