Student Government candidates presented their tickets’ stance on issues critical to students in The Daily Reveille’s and Tiger TV’s co-sponsored presidential and vice presidential election debate last night in the Holliday Forum of the Journalism Building.
Jonathan Harb, presidential candidate with “L.S.You,” said his ticket’s most important issue is outreach efforts — finding what students want and informing them of what SG is doing.
“We can not represent people who don’t know we exist,” he said.
Michelle Gieg, presidential candidate with “Making It Happen,” said the issue most important to her is developing an Office of Public Service, which would organize community service throughout the campus.
Heath Hattaway, “In Focus” presidential candidate, said he wants to bring students into the city of Baton Rouge by working with Capital Area Transit System to run buses between campus and downtown during “Live After Five,” a spring concert. He said providing buses would expose students to downtown while keeping them safe under the “watchful eye of the Department of Transportation.”
 
Scheduling
Hattaway told students he is looking at creating a “virtual counseling system” that would begin during a student’s sophomore year and continue to graduation. It would make degree audits in the form of a Web page and prevent students from scheduling courses that will not count towards their degree.
Gieg said she will develop a waiting list for students who are unable to schedule classes that are full. It would alert departments to courses that are full and still in high demand. When a spot in the class becomes available, students on the waiting list would be automatically added to the course.
Harb said that he would create a program that allows freshmen in the University College for Freshmen Year to connect with counselors who have specialized knowledge in their desired major and create a 24-hour hotline for students during
scheduling.
 
Bus Systems and Parking
Hattaway said students face the problem of sitting on buses while drivers take their breaks or talk with other drivers and that the bus system and its drivers need to be held accountable. He said he supports requiring drivers to post a direct number to the Transportation Office for complaints and their specified break times.
We need to “cut down on bus drivers not doing what they are suppose to do,” he said.
He said students need to be asked what they want to do about parking — if they want a parking garage and where they would want it.
Gieg agreed that drivers need to be held accountable, and that installing global position systems would be most effective because it would allow the transportation department to track buses.
It would “take care of accountability and be a great service to students,” she said.
Gieg also said she wants to create a carpool lot — for vehicles with more than two students — closer to the center of campus than other commuter lots.
Harb said, if elected, he would support the continuation of developing the GPS installation, as well as student shuttle systems for special events on campus — such as the rodeo — that take up student parking places.
“We don’t need to have better parking, but more parking and better shuttling,” Harb said.
 
Student Fees
Rachel Spinner, vice presidential candidate with “In Focus,” said that she would support fees “if [they will] better the University,” but told students earlier in the debate that “none of our issues are going to cost you anything.”
Omar Parbhoo, “L.S.You” vice presidential candidate, said his concern with fees was the lack of student representation in deciding fee increases. He cited the recent increase of fees for international students and the lack of input solicited from international students.
There was a $750 fee increase for out-of-state students in fall 2004 and a $50 fee increase for international students this semester.
Patrick Downs, “Making It Happen” vice presidential candidate, said when it comes to fees, it’s necessary to examine the benefit of the fee — if it will benefit students or the University and if it has been properly publicized.