By V.M. Bruno and Brandon Fern

On April 29, 2014 our 5 SGA presidential candidates met outside of the Cougar Cafe for their debate. BrittanyMarie Barber, Bianca Harriott, Mike Laporte, Gordon Plouffe, and Joseph Young discussed some important topics for the coming year, ranging from the restart of the athletic program to the issues surrounding the SGA.

One pressing issue this election has been the restart of the athletics program. There have been many different methods discussed, most notably Plouffe’s plan to begin a multi year project starting next term to bring it back. He states that we need to “educate ourselves on how government works” to get government to fund the athletics program separately. And adds that he does not want to make the school choose between academics, athletics, or department cuts. Barber agrees and states “if we do not have a separate budget for athletes, we will not get it back” LaPorte agrees with both candidates stating “it can’t be instantaneous but it will come back” and claims that it may bring in a higher number of admissions, boost school pride, thus giving more money to the school in the long term.

Another topic the candidates discussed was the SGA’s role on campus. All candidates identified the SGA’s lack of communication with the student body to be a major issue. Harriott states that as a regular student, “I spoke with some people who don’t even know what it is”. Barber agrees as a member of the SGA and adds “we should not be hiding in our corner office”. Gordon inputs that he plans for the SGA to “take on a better ambassadorship role with the clubs and with the students” .

There was a big debate surrounding the process of clubs starting and staying alive. All candidates agreed that there is a lack of awareness of new clubs and that it would be best to send out emails to every student informing them of the new clubs. Barber acknowledged the problems with the SGA’s communication with clubs stating “We need to build that bridge”. Her plan is for that each club has an elective representative they can call for help with their issues.

The candidates also discussed increasing attendance school events. Young and Harriott identified the issue being the lack communication with the student body. Barber and Laporte think that there should be more events for students to get to know one another in order to create a community. Gordon believes that reaching out to the community face to face is the most effective way to get students involved.

All candidates are actively meeting with students around campus to talk about their campaign as well as hear your input on these issues.

 

*Correction* MCC Pres. Gena Glickman has never been quoted saying she will never bring back sports, and actually is currently pursuing special funding through the state.

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