UOSA President, Vice President Candidates Debate Campus Issues
Reforming student government central to candidates' platforms


UOSA President and Vice Presidential candidates (left to right) Nicholas Harrison, John Surles, Jay Kumar, Jess Eddy, Ally Glavas, Zac McCullock, Franz Zenteno and Cory Lloyd discuss how they would solve issues facing UOSA Wednesday and what they plan to do if elected. OU Daily editor-in-chief, Jamie Hughes (center, podium) moderates the debate.

Freshman and vice presidential candidate, Jay Kumar, shakes hands with a student after the debate. Kumar is the youngest of the president and vice presidential candidates.

Click here to read the profiles of each of the UOSA presidential candidates

All four UOSA presidential and vice presidential candidates highlighted their intent to make student government more relevant to the student body during the presidential debate on Wednesday, March 24.

The debate, hosted by Student Media and moderated by OU Daily editor-in-chief, Jamie Hughes, took place in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. The audience consisted mainly of specific supporters of each campaign.

Much of the debate focused on how the candidates would accomplish student interest and involvement in UOSA.

Presidential candidates, Franz Zenteno and Ally Glavas, said current UOSA representatives do not actively reach out to students and student organizations.

“We are student government and we are responsible if these students don’t know about us,” said Zenteno, international and areas studies graduate. “If I can get elected, that’s my main point. I want to reach out to every OU student and advocate for them.”

UOSA must dispel the thought of many students that UOSA representatives are just trying to beef up their resumes, said presidential candidate Nicholas Harrison.

“There’s the belief out there in a large part of the student body that student government is really just about trying to improve themselves, and that’s a problem,” Harrison said. “I think we have to show them that UOSA has the power to tackle issues that are important and relevant to them.”

Presidential candidate, Jess Eddy, felt the other candidates’ made good points, but students could not expect a change simply given their ideology or mindset. He said specific programs should be created to encourage student involvement.

“UOSA must set up programs that encourage academics, that encourage community, that encourage involvement, that encourage diversity,” said Eddy, religious studies and political science sophomore. “These are the kinds of programs that we can bring students to that UOSA members will be present at, and will bring us together in a closer relationship with these students.”

Harrison and his vice presidential candidate, John Surles, were the only candidates who announced support of a referendum, authored by Harrison last September, to create a Student Organization Senate.

“Oftentimes the current governmental bodies that exist don’t want to make these changes if they’re not in their own interest,” said Surles, multidisciplinary studies junior. “I don’t think it’s right that organizations that may be smaller or maybe don’t have the same amount of popularity on campus should suffer because of that.”

Glavas’s running mate, Zac McCullock, said he understood the motives behind the amendment, but that it goes about solving the issue the wrong way. He said creating an umbrella organization for each of the student organizations could solve the issue.

“This way, student organizations can present a simpler voice to student government to make sure that [UOSA] advocates for their interests,” said McCullock, international business and entrepreneurship junior. “I don’t think student organization presidents want to become representatives in another branch of student government.”

Cory Lloyd, Zenteno’s vice presidential running mate, said UOSA must do a better job of working closely with student organizations.

“We need to make sure student government is representing the student organizations in the right way,” said Lloyd, advertising junior. “The way you approach one organization might be different than how you handle another organization.”

Jay Kumar, Eddy’s vice presidential candidate, said existing problems, such as currently vacant seats in student congress, should be addressed before creating another branch of student government.

“Creating another branch, I fear would create more void, and possibly add to the problems that are already existing in UOSA,” said Kumar, University College freshman.

None of the candidates said they would support an amendment introduced last fall intended to increase stipends for the UOSA president. Eddy said if he were elected, he would use the current stipend for UOSA presidents to create a scholarship for the highest performing member of the executive branch.

UOSA elections are March 30 and 31. Students can vote online at elections.ou.edu or at polling locations in front of Dale Hall, the College of Law, the Oklahoma Memorial Union, the University Bus Stop, and areas around Couch Restaurants, according to the elections Web site.

Midterm

Students "Occupy" South Oval
Demonstration part of National Day of Action to Defend Public Education



A small group of students occupied an area of the South Oval on Thursday as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education.

The group, called “The Undercurrent,” set up bikes with signs reading, “Occupy the South Oval” around a large rug to attract attention. Demonstrators played music, handed out fliers, and talked with passersby to raise awareness of tuition hikes in California as well as other states, including Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma’s tuition increases aren’t nearly as bad as California’s, but it’s still a move in the wrong direction,” said philosophy junior, Matthew Bruenig, one of the event’s organizers. “This is really about education rights in general, having access to affordable education.”

Protesters also hung a sign reading “Occupy Everything” from the top of Gaylord Hall during the morning, but OU authorities removed it later in the afternoon. Organizers of the protest did not confirm or deny that anyone of “The Undercurrent” hung the sign.

Oklahoma legislators agreed to a cut state appropriations to higher education 3.5 percent in February.

In a March 3 letter to the Oklahoma Daily, OU President David Boren said cuts to the higher education budget are “much less than the cuts to other areas of the state government.”

“We must all work as hard as possible on behalf of the higher education budget in order to keep university education accessible to all students,” Boren said in the letter.

Bruenig said he believes legislators and OU administrators could have done more to prevent the most harmful effects of the budget cuts from falling on students.

“If they’re just going to make up the budget shortfall by raising tuition and covering everything that way, that’s not really working through it together,” he said. “If we want to work through it together, [OU administrators] are going to need to take some hits themselves.”

Bruenig said cuts to OU administrators’ salaries should have helped balance the budget shortfall.

“Boren makes $700,000 plus a year. Is that really necessary when you live in Oklahoma and you don’t have to pay for your housing?”

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Boren received a $631,000 package for the 2008-2009 school year.

Furzanna Iqbal, letters senior, said the demonstration is also meant to highlight the disparity between administrators, whose salaries often remain untouched in crises, and students and faculty who take the brunt of budget cuts.

“These budget cuts are falling disproportionately on students and faculty workers rather than administrators,” Iqbal said. “It’s not just a problem with the budgets being cut in Oklahoma, it’s a whole structural problem with higher education in this country.”

The University of California Board of Regents voted last November to raise undergraduate fees 32 percent next fall. California's budget cuts have put teachers on furlough and led to the cancellation of entire classes and academic departments.

Students and professors held demonstrations in 32 states, occupying classrooms or skipping classes altogether. Some of the protests turned violent, with students smashing windows and damaging buildings.

Bruenig said he is happy with the demonstration’s small, but peaceful turnout. 


“[The protest] really only started getting organized a few days ago,” he said. “People come and go and there’s been good discussion.”

He said students should demonstrate now to prevent further cuts to higher education in the future.

“If no one does anything, there’s no sense to [lawmakers] that there’s opposition to their decision, so in the future they might feel that they can increase it again,” Bruenig said. “If we let our voices be heard though, it’s not just going to be a story in the newspaper. You’re going to have people speaking out against it, people criticizing it, and making [higher education cuts] more politically difficult to do by raising awareness.”

- The Associated Press contributed to this report

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