Candidates vying for positions in next year’s Student Association executive council gave insight into their platforms during a debate Tuesday evening discussing issues involving students.
The three SA presidents candidates, senior political science major Drew Cleek, senior kinesiology major Thomas Sellers and senior technology education major Randy Williams, participated in the debate.
Cleek said he thinks he is qualified because of his experience the last two years.
“I think the biggest thing you are going to see with me is that I am going to be a voice for the students,” Cleek said.
Cleek said the biggest thing for the president is to know how to work with every person in the SA.
“We need to put a face to Mississippi State University and not just a school’s name,” Cleek said.
Sellers said one of his platform points is to increase involvement in state, local and federal government.
“I think that is a very important part of the student association and a very important thing that we can do to moving forward during this economy,” Sellers said. “I think it is very important that we put a face with higher education so that law makers in Jackson know that when they cut the budget at Mississippi State they’re not just cutting the universities budget, they are cutting our budget as students and they are affecting our future and our education.”
Sellers said another platform plan and initiative is to create a sponsorship and contract to partner with businesses in the city.
“The 2 percent tax can go to other areas that can benefits students such as dawg rallies that can improve the Mississippi State experience,” Sellers said.
Williams said a point of his platform is to extend the academic forgiveness policy.
“We are granted 8 hours and I’m pushing that we will be granted an additional hour,” Williams said. “That will allow us to take an additional class.”
Another point on Williams’s campaign deals with commuter parking during football games.
“I am pushing that commuter students will be able to park for free,” Williams said. “They make us pay $12 outside of the Commuter East zone now.”
There also two candidates in the race for SA vice president, sophomore communication and political science major William “Willie” Brewster and sophomore communication major Rhett Hobart.
Brewster said he would like to make changes to the academic advising program, but he is mainly focusing on the students.
“I want to be a voice and a vice president for the students,” Brewster said. “I can sit up here and attempt to make many promises to you but most of my agenda is going to come exactly from what the students of Mississippi State want to see done.”
Hobart said one of his points is to enrich and improve the lines of communication with the SA and the student body.
“I think it is a really big issue right now that people in certain areas don’t know who their senator is,” Hobart said. “I think that we should go out, make sure people know who their senators are, how to get in contact with their senators, if they do that they are much more likely to get involved and have legislation passed that they want to get passed.”
The debate between the two treasurer candidates, junior accounting major Robin Tierce and insurance risk management and financial planning major Randall “Ross” Weems, focused on distributing funds to different campus organizations and services.
Tierce said some of her points include working on the shuttle system, increasing sponsorship for events and helping to allocate funds to campus organizations.
“I would like to be able to work with everyone and take a second and look at why they use certain funds and see if we can maybe come up with a better way of spending this money instead of doing just what we have mainly done in the past,” Tierce said.
Tierce also said she would like to work on the shuttle system by creating more routes so more people are able to use them more efficiently.
Weems said he would like to see a more efficient way of gathering information from the different organization on campus who applies for funds.
“I feel like my experience as chairman of the senate appropriations committee has given me the experience to better allocate the funds that we are given to various groups across campus,” Weems said. “It is going to be very important as we go throughout the next year with all these budget cuts to really focus on that.”
The two candidates running for attorney general are sophomore biochemistry major Nathan Nunnelee and junior political science major Nathan Upchurch.
Nunnelee said he wants to focus on helping people cope with all of the university’s budget cuts.
“I think it is important as the attorney general to know exactly what is going on with the students, and I feel like I’ve made steps that are necessary to know what is going on with students,” Nunnelee said. “What it comes down to is knowing people and knowing the pulse of Mississippi State.”
Upchurch said he feels the university should increase the student body’s voice at the state level.
“I think it is necessary for us to better the relationship with the local government and the state government,” Upchurch said. “If elected, I plan to expand on our existing program by allowing the entire student body to lobby state legislators.”
Junior political science major Valerie Windham is running unopposed for SA secretary, and she is excited about the opportunity to. serve as secretary in the upcoming year and wants to ensure SA success.
Windham said she also wants to keep the student body more aware of things going on around campus.
“I think it would be really great if we started an optional survey via our onCampus Web site where people can submit their information anonymously,” Windham said.
Windham said she would really like to focus more on the athletic traditions the SA started last year.
“I think it would be great to support the athletic department even more,” Windham said. ” I feel like the students are a huge part of the success of the athletic department here, and when we come out and support them, they get excited and want to play even harder and we can win more games.”