Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its first-ever BSG Executive Committee candidate debate on Monday in Sills Hall's Smith Auditorium. Candidates answered questions from the moderators, Orient Co-editor Steve Kolowich '08 and BSG Policy Director Kata Solow '10, as well as from the audience.
The Executive Committee roles include BSG president, vice president of academic affairs, vice president of BSG affairs, vice president of student organizations, vice president of facilities, and treasurer. While the majority of candidates for these positions were present at the debate, three who are currently studying abroad sent proxies to speak on their behalf.
Ugo Egbunike '09, who is running against the currently abroad Arden Klemmer '09 for treasurer, said the debate "would have been a lot more beneficial for voters had they been able to hear us discuss the issues... in a more in-depth manner with Arden being present."
In the opening debate for vice president of facilities, current position holder Mike Dooley '10 faced challenger Greg Tabak '11. Kolowich asked Dooley and Tabak how each would balance student wants and department limitations. While Tabak stressed the need for a "transparent budget," Dooley emphasized his experience overcoming such limitations over the course of his term.
"We had a clear want from students... and we worked through what we thought was something that might not have worked initially," Dooley said regarding extended Watson Fitness Center hours. "I think that the most important thing is being able to compromise."
Solow asked the candidates about which campus services they considered lacking.
"Everyone calls for Safe Ride all the time," Dooley replied. "The demand this year is just overwhelmingly larger than it was last year, and so we have to work through that."
Dooley also addressed the need to make local and national newspapers more numerous and accessible in the dining halls.
Tabak focused on enhancing dining services with such features as a sandwich station at dinner, more prepared food at Super Snack, and "more accessibility to food at late hours." He also suggested making Bowdoin's fitness equipment more self-sustainable and adopting elsewhere the library's method of spooling newspapers on wooden sticks in order to address the issue of newspaper accessibility.
"We're dedicated to the Common Good and we exercise a lot, so it makes perfect sense that we can combine the two," Tabak said. "We can be the leaders in this field."
In the treasurer debate, Egbunike said that he has "considerably altered" his fall schedule in order to offer more of his personal time to help clubs and club leaders settle financial issues.
Reading from Klemmer's pre-written responses to Kolowich and Solow's prompts, proxy Claire Cooper '09 stated that Klemmer "will encourage all SAFC [Student Activities Funding Committee] members to have a positive, welcoming attitude in meetings and will use "office hours and any other way to increase the understanding of how the SAFC operates" to help reduce the tension stemming from clubs' lack of understanding regarding funds.
In the vice president of BSG affairs debate, current officeholder John Connolly '11, running against Ian Yaffe '09, faced Yaffe's proxy Michael Bartha '09. Bartha read from Yaffe's debate answers that Yaffe wants to "make BSG as efficient and streamlined as possible."
"It's time to stop arguing about how things are going to be done and instead focus on simply getting them done," Bartha read. "For example, the official meeting minutes from 26 March state: 'Tonight will be complicated, probably long, and definitely boring.' No wonder people are resigning."
Connolly admitted that BSG's string of resignations this year "really hampered our efficiency," but added that the constitutional amendment process will help assembly members become more aware of the tasks they must face."
In response to Yaffe's claim that "meeting minutes (and meetings for that matter) should be organized by topic and reflect a sense of importance for the subject at hand, not small talk and jokes between representatives," Connolly said that the occasional lightheartedness of meetings keeps members engaged.
"I think if we make BSG really rules-conscious and hardcore," he said, "no one's going to want to be there."
Hannah Bruce '11 and Samantha Scully '09 debated for the position of vice president of student organizations. Bruce stated that she would aim to be "very meticulous when chartering new organizations" and stressed the importance of ensuring that "the person who steps into this job is someone with experience."
In her concluding statement, Scully said, "I have been a club leader on this campus since my freshman year, and I have gone through the charter process." She said this experience allows her to "sympathize" and "empathize" with club leaders seeking funding.
Kolowich asked Carly Berman '11 and Isa Abney '11, candidates for vice president of student affairs, about their thoughts on students whose needs are habitually marginalized on campus. Both candidates agreed that the campus needs to be more welcoming of different groups whose needs have been overlooked, but their responses to Solow's question on specific policy initiatives were more varied.
"A lot of people have had issues with the housing system," Berman said, introducing her goal to improve the efficiency of Bowdoin's housing lottery. She also lamented the sense of tradition that was lost in the abolition of fraternities and expressed hopes of reviving this in the College House system.
Abney focused his response on enhancing Bowdoin's Counseling Center "given that a third of the campus, actually more" uses it. He also said he wants to see if Alternative Spring Break trips can be made more accessible to more students and that he has discussed with Director of Residential Life Kim Pacelli the possibility of making the housing lottery more electronic.
With three candidates?Christian Adams '09, Lynzie McGregor '09, and Sophia Seifert '09?running for BSG president, the presidential debate was the night's lengthiest. Nick Simon '09 served as a proxy for Adams, who is studying abroad.
As Simon stated in the debate, Adams's foremost concern as president would be student-faculty relations. Seifert expressed a desire to "engage across the board" with faculty and administrators alike, while McGregor emphasized the need to "mobilize" BSG.
"By mobilization, I mean all the vice presidents and the presidents gets out there...we talk to people, we talk to first-years," McGregor said. "We go to different club meetings and we ask them if they have questions."
When Kolowich asked candidates what they considered Bowdoin's most pressing issues, Seifert said that students can be "seduced by how great Bowdoin is" and can fall short of taking critical looks at campus problems and acting on these problems. Simon reiterated Adams's earlier point regarding the need to foster better student-faculty relations, while McGregor stressed the need to better "create conversations" within the Bowdoin community.
In concluding statements, McGregor said that "being able to bridge different gaps that Bowdoin hasn't really been trying to bridge in big ways" is a value she would like to emphasize as BSG president, while Seifert encouraged students to take "ownership" of their time at Bowdoin and be more critical of campus issues that could be improved.
The final debate of the night featured Sam Dinning '09 and Sean Campos '11 in the race for vice president of academic affairs. Campos dropped out of the race on Wednesday, announced in an e-mail from BSG President Dustin Brooks '08.
"I think the debates were a huge achievement in legitimizing BSG elections and making sure voters have access to the candidates and issues," Seifert wrote in an e-mail to the Orient. "It also really highlighted how many quality candidates there are across all offices and underscores the importance of this election."
"All the candidates for next year have goals that should significantly impact student life on campus, so allowing their messages to be heard is a great step towards a more well-informed electorate," Dinning wrote. "We had a good attendance at the debate and many other people have been asking about the YouTube videos, so I'm confident that the debates will play a role in the outcome of the election."