SGA candidates debate hot issues

Student Government Association presidential
candidates exchanged barbs during a Wednesday night
debate leading up to next week’s SGA elections.

Jibran Muhammad and Stephen Latimer, along
with their respective vice-presidential candidates, met
in the University Commons Theater to present their
platforms.

Muhammad has campaigned that his presidency
would strive to make textbooks more affordable and
increase endowments, as well as support the creation of
a VCU football team. Latimer focused on reforming the
SGA-a point that Muhammad criticized throughout
the debate.

Latimer and his vice-presidential candidate, Gonzalo
Aida, stressed that to bring about reform, the SGA
needs to become more open.

“We’re going to make the SGA 100 percent transparent,”
Aida said.
The Muhammad camp, which has labeled itself
“Students for Positive Change,” disagreed.

“Students don’t want to know how the SGA works.
Students don’t want to know how a bill is passed,”
Muhammad said.

Aida directly criticized the current SGA executive
branch, headed by President Jessica Lee.
“For far too long the SGA Senate has been let down
by an inept SGA executive.”

The SGA vice president acts as the liaison between
the SGA Student Senate and president, so one topic discussed
was how Aida and Adam Sowder, Muhammad’s
vice-presidential candidate, will provide more cohesion
between the senate and the executive branch.
“There’s a lot of bickering going on,” Sowder said.
“I think the goal for student government . is just to
continue to try and improve the cooperation, communication
and collaboration. Relationships are the
prime motivator behind everything.”

Muhammad and Latimer both argued to support
the underprivileged in the VCU community.
Financial aid was Muhammad’s first issue in his
plan for positive change.

“If VCU had a larger endowment fund, it could offer
all students in need financial aid. If it had a better school
spirit, it would have a larger endowment. If it had a
football team, it would have better school spirit.”
Sowder addressed the football debate at the end
of the vice-presidential debate by saying VCU won’t
have a football team.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen next year. I don’t
think it’s going to happen the year after that. It won’t
because President (Eugene P.) Trani is still here.”

Muhammad also touched on lowering textbook
prices, food-service costs and parking fees.
To express his student advocacy during his time as
an SGA senator, Latimer equated himself to the Dr.
Seuss character The Lorax.

“If you’re the trees, I’m your Lorax,” Latimer
said.

While Muhammad continued to criticize Latimer’s
platform of SGA reform, one of Latimer’s reforms would
involve the way funds are appropriated.
“I feel that the SGA executive branch needs to be
changed,” Latimer said. “I feel that the senate has been
rendered ineffective by the SGA executive branch’s
incompetence and ineptitude . There are horror
stories of going before appropriations and things not
going your way and organizations getting shafted.”

He thinks appropriations need to be handled at the
presidential roundtable meetings.

“We currently have the presidential roundtable set
up, and they’re currently useless,” Latimer said. “I would tell my executive
director to change up the format of the round table to have some sort of
reasonable conversation.”

After defending his efforts to maintain VCU’s current student escort
service, Latimer called the current escort service efficient.

When Muhammad’s candidate for executive director voiced concerns
about the escort service that Latimer defended, Latimer said that he had
no personal qualms with the service.

Muhammad is confident he will win the election.

“Even if I don’t get elected, which I think I will,” Muhammad said, “I’ve
met a lot of wonderful people, and some bad people, but that’s OK.”

To answer the final question, which asked what each candidate thought
was his biggest weakness, Latimer threw the crowd a curveball.

“As for my character trait that I like the least,” Latimer said, “I think I’m
entirely too attractive and too charming.”