By: Gabriel Arraras / News Director
Live from the Housing Quad of the Modesto Maidique Campus, the 2011 Student Government presidential debates are set to begin.
As the first contested SGA presidential election since 2008, students will have the options of voting for either Alina Gonzalez and Kevin Gonzalez, for president and vice president respectively, or for Patrick O’Keefe and Sanjeev Udhnani.
The presidential debate will be moderated by current Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon Jorge Valens, Director of Campus Life Eric Arneson, Director of the Graham Center Maxine Hylton and Brittany Brewster, president of the Black Student Union.
For live updates of debate coverage, please read below or follow us on twitter.com/fiusm
4:23 p.m. – Alina Gonzalez, current vice president of SGC-MMC citing her experience in three different SGA administrations as what makes her stand out from her opponent.
4:26 p.m. – O’Keefe and Udhnani argue for reaching out to those students that Student Government typically does not reach.
4:29 p.m. – O’Keefe and Gonzalez both lobbying for less infrastructure funding and more individual club funding.
4:31 p.m. – When asked about communication issues with the Student Government Council at Biscayne Bay Campus, Gonzalez argues that communication can be improved and cites her relationship with incoming SGC-BBC President Denise Halpin as a way to ease the strains in communication.
4:33 p.m. – Arneson brings up the issue of internal bickering within SGA. Udhnani argues that Student Government must be more for the students. Gonzalez believes the internal divisions and “cliques” within SGA need to be removed in order to work together for a stronger council.
4:36 p.m. – Udhnani lobbying for getting the attention of students before they even get to FIU, telling an audience that by sending SGA officials as student ambassadors to local high schools it would increase the interest from local Florida students to attend FIU.
4:39 p.m. – Gonzalez argues for State Government to start funding higher education more, citing funding for Universities as one of the most important issues affecting students today.
4:41 p.m. – Kevin Gonzalez feels that infrastructure is a big issue as well, with enrollment numbers increasing every year. Says he will do “all in his power as vice president” to help increase infrastructure at FIU to keep on pace with higher enrollment numbers.
4:43 p.m. – Udhnani, following up with his goals to increase community involvement with the University, cites that the University should strive to reach out to the community for help with increasing awareness of the Athletic’s department.
4:45 p.m. – Writer’s note: a very pro-Gonzalez crowd in attendance here at the presidential debate.
4:45 p.m. – O’Keefe calls Alina’s claim that work can only be done in the fall a “ridiculous notion,” arguing that a president has to do work all year around.
4:46 p.m. – O’Keefe: “Must work with deans in order to increase course selections.”
4:47 p.m. – Alina feels that when it comes to course selection, what is really important is making sure students can get all the courses they need in order to graduate on time.
4:48 p.m. – The O’Keefe / Udhnani ticket a staunch supporter of Pell Grants, citing the University as the fourth most dependent on the grants. They argue that they will work to lobby congressmen to continue funding Pell Grants.
4:50 p.m. – When asked about the negative perception most students have of SGA, both tickets argue that they should be lobbying to reach out to students for them to better understand what Student Government is all about.
4:54 p.m. – Citing past mistakes from the current administration, of which both Gonzalez’s are a part of, O’Keefe believes there should be a change.
The Student Government Presidential debates are now over. Be sure to check out Monday’s issue of The Beacon for more election coverage.
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