by Ardee Napolitano
news@dailylobo.com
This week, undergraduates can vote for student government representatives from the “Unite for ASUNM,” “Believe for ASUNM” and “Shout for ASUNM” slates in the ASUNM elections. Read up on the vice-presidential candidates and their platforms today before casting your ballots Wednesday. See Friday’s edition of the Daily Lobo for a Q-and-A with the presidential candidates.
Daily Lobo: If elected, on what principles would you model your vice presidency?
David Saucier, “Unite for ASUNM”: The key principles that I intend to base this vice presidency are openness to our organizations, accountability for our senators and myself, and transparency in all processes of our business.
Brandon Meyers, “Believe for ASUNM”: The first is hard work. I think the best Senate is one that is trying to do everything they can to not only reach out to the students but also write great legislation. The second one is accountability. There are a lot of responsibilities in the ASUNM Constitution that may seem burdensome to people, and I want to make sure senators are held accountable to those. Third and fourth are integrity and honesty in trying to hold true to your values as an individual but also representing your constituent base.
Nancy Martinez, “Shout for ASUNM”: If elected, I would want to work with the senators and the presidents to bring equality, even with senators that have been elected from other slates. I would love to cooperate with them to bring more equality and diversity on campus.
DL: After months of debate, the SUB Board finally decided in February to keep Chick-fil-A on campus. Would you work to support or refute this decision?
DS: I recognize the controversy behind this situation, but I think that Chick-Fil-A offers jobs to students. I know the students that work at Chick-Fil-A to be kind and accepting of all people.
BM: As a senator, I was in support of the ASUNM resolution. I wanted to support the minority in this scenario. My personal stance is that I love moving forward. I’ve talked with Amy Vesper of the UNM Social Justice Club, and I like the progress that she and (ASUNM) President (Caroline) Muraida have made in drafting policies that are for all vendors that come into the SUB so that we don’t get into these sticky situations again.
NM: I think it’s ultimately not up to me, but to the students, so I would work with them and see what they want. Eventually, it’s everyone’s decision. My personal opinion didn’t really matter, but after all, I was against it just because of how it was directed.
DL: Earlier in this semester, the University witnessed various cases of assaults on campus that prompted safety initiatives from the administration. If elected, how do you plan to make the campus safer for students?
DS: One of the proposed solutions to this would be either to install more lighting around campus or even to provide an indoor running track to those of us who like to run during the night.
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Past that, I believe prevention is the best way to go. I think that we should form forums to help discuss some of the risks specific to certain locations and how they can be avoided. I would also ask the UNM police officers to come in and talk and give their take on things at these forums.
BM: I don’t have all the answers. In this situation I would be looking to get input and opinion about how I should represent my constituents best. I was told that (UNMPD) has opened up a student position for someone to walk around campus during the night and making sure everything’s OK. A lot of what UNMPD does is in their cars patrolling the streets. But often it happens right here where there’s no streets. That makes sense, and it would be cool if we had students as neighborhood watch.
NM: I would definitely bring up more lighting and increase security, because those issues should never even be tolerated.
Being a girl, I think I’m afraid of walking around campus. And I would increase the lighting because I have noticed that in some areas on campus, it gets dark.
DL: There has been much discussion about whether the Athletics Department has been receiving too much money from student fees. What are your opinions on this, and how do you think the University could operate more efficiently on a tight budget?
DS: I think student athletics is an important part of UNM, and it allows opportunities for students to really get connected with this University. At the same time, a balance should always be made in terms of funding to make sure that things are not going overboard. As stated earlier, I intend to have transparency though all business operations so that the students and others can keep us accountable.
BM: It’s a double-edged sword that I don’t like treading, because Athletics is a certain sect of students that you don’t want to choose to alienate by saying that we should slash their SFRB funding … I think what we need to look at when operating on a tighter budget is addressing what a student fee is and what should it go to … By addressing what a student fee is for, we could achieve a more efficient budget process that can get tighter as we go through time.
NM: I personally think that the Athletics Department is getting too much funding. I think we should start focusing on other areas first, and then eventually on Athletics. A lot of the students that I have talked to are upset with the budget, so I would direct it more to the students and see how they would want to spend funding.
DL: A number of UNM students are older, nontraditional students who have one or two jobs while taking classes at UNM and commute to campus. Considering that you are a young traditional student, how are you prepared to represent nontraditional students’ interest at UNM?
DS: As a friend to nontraditional students both in my department and others, I believe that we are all students and even those that we label ‘nontraditional’ are students and should be represented just the same as all the others.
BM: Within the scope of the vice president, I would really be interested in inviting the Association for Non-Traditional Students to speak as a guest speaker at the Senate about what they do and in what ways ASUNM can collaborate with them to better represent their needs and interests. While in a small way, I hope that the dialogue that is opened up would prove to be beneficial and begin strides towards a better representative senate.
NM: As far as parents or students who stay late here on campus, I would try to create a center where the education department could help to create a daycare center so that parents could go to their classes. And even transportation, because I know a lot of them don’t drive on campus. Having the buses running late would also be a great idea to accommodate their schedules.
DL: Why are you the best choice for vice president?
DS: I believe that based on my previous leadership experiences, I would offer a new beneficial view and leadership of the senate.
This would allow for the transfer of different information that can be used for future senators, vice presidents and beyond to help the ASUNM Senate progress and grow. In addition the key thing that I have learned in my leadership roles was that leadership is about service. I am the best choice for vice president because I will serve UNM to make sure that all things that I do are for the progression and service of the student population at UNM.
BM: I’m not going to say that experience alone is going to be the predicator of why I am the best choice, though I do think that my five semesters as a senator play to my advantage. I know all these things that the vice president does for the Senate, and I think that’s why I’m a great candidate. And I’m someone that’s completely open to any dialogue, and I don’t shush anything out or cut anything out. I feel like I have an open-door policy, and that office there downstairs is about the best thing that I can have.
NM: I would be the best choice because I come from a different background. I have no experience with ASUNM, and I really don’t think that anyone who has started there has had an experience before. I would bring the equality back and make it stronger.
