Candidates Take on Issues in Primary Debate

The Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) election season came into full swing yesterday afternoon as candidates from three teams debated topics such as zoning ordinances, sexual health, and GLTBQ and AHANA issues. While each team had a particular issue about which they were passionate, all said they were dedicated to increasing unity on campus by breaking down barriers in the UGBC hierarchy.

The "No More Than Four" ordinance, which has been with contentious responses from students across Boston who feel the law's restriction of off-campus housing units to only four students is unreasonable, was addressed early. The Micaela - Pat campaign, who cited this as a pillar of their platform last week, still expressed their desire to fight the ordinance. "The University hasn't taken a formal stance and we're not waiting for them to," Patrick Raab, vice presidential candidate for the Micaela - Pat ticket and A&S '11, said. "We're working with other area schools to create a united voice and a task force to combat this ordinance."

Charlie Witmer, presidential candidate for the Charlie - Courtney ticket and A&S '11, said that changes regarding "No More Than Four" may take time given the nature of the ordinance. "The UGBC Senate is working on this initiative to work with other schools in Boston, but this goes above and beyond BC because it's an actual law," he said. "But we will work with Harvey [Simmons, president of the UGBC Senate and A&S '11] to make sure this rule changes."

Kris Munden, presidential candidate for the Kris - Talal ticket and A&S '11, said his political ties to the College Democrats of Massachusetts would give their team an advantage in battling this legislation. "We are the only team that has the experience to combat this law," he said.

A question posed early in the debate dealt with the difficulty that many BC students perceive in getting involved with the UGBC. Courtney Dower, vice presidential candidate on the Charlie - Courtney ticket and A&S '11, said she has the ability to address these issues as someone that was coming into the campaign with little previous UGBC experience. "The strengths of our opponents' campaigns are their experiences," she said. "But we have the perspective of students that are passionate about other experiences as well."

Raab said that the UGBC suffers from insularity. "The issue with the UGBC is its lack of interaction with the rest of campus," he said. "We need to be able to ask for help."
Munden agreed that the structure of the UGBC could stand to be reformed. "There are great positions in the UGBC that work," he said. "But there are others that only work on one issue throughout the year. We could combine directorships to make the UGBC smaller, but more efficient."

The sexual health referendum, which passed last year with 89.47 percent of the student vote, resurfaced during these debates. Each of the candidate teams said it deserved a renewed analysis. "We feel the most important thing on the sexual health referendum is the free STI testing," Witmer said. He said that, if elected, he would partner with other universities that have already implemented this free STI testing to research if it has proven effective.

This notion of exclusivity carried over into debates over issues of diversity on campus. Raab expressed his desire to see AHANA and GLBTQ issues discussed not as a separate entity, but within the context of the University as a whole. "This is something that everyone on campus should be worried and concerned about," he said.
Mabida and Raab supported the idea of creating a GLBTQ resource center to compliment the existing Women's Resource Center. "They deserve a space of their own," Micaela Mabida, presidential candidate for the Micaela - Pat ticket and CSOM '11, said.

Munden and Rojas said they want to expand the definition of diversity on campus to include socioeconomic disparity.  They said they would institute office hours with top administrators regularly to speak about these issues. "Even Fr. Leahy," Munden said.
Witmer said he believed increased interaction in the semi-autonomous relationship between the UGBC, the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), and the GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC) would alleviate tensions between the groups. "The semi-autonomous nature of the ALC and the UGBC is important," he said. "I would like to see more interaction outside of business issues, more social events, because I believe that people work better when they are friends."

During the debate, the topic of the $6,000 stipends received by the president and vice president, was discussed. While each of the teams said they agreed that the stipend was excessive, the Witmer-Dower team and the Munden-Rojas team made specific commitments to cut back the stipend. "We're looking into the possibility of giving part of it away to give more money to other student groups and organizations," Dower said.
Munden calculated that he and Rojas felt they deserved only $3,700 each.  "We worked it out that this would equate the salary of a student worker who worked 15 hours a week at $9 an hour," Munden said.