The first of two debates between the candidates for the 2007-2008 presidency of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate occurred last night before a crowd of about 25 students in Eaton 206.
Student life and campus community were the debate's designated topics.
Before answering questions, sophomores Neil DiBiase and Jake Maccoby and junior Amanda Richardson each delivered an opening statement.
Richardson, who spoke first, expressed a desire for Senate to have a greater impact on students.
"I really think that the TCU Senate can attempt to empower students more than it ever has before in every aspect of their lives," she said.
Richardson outlined three specific areas she would focus on as president: supporting students' academic lives, improving their social lives, and educating them about their rights as students.
One way of empowering students academically, according to Richardson, is to improve the advising system. "Our advising system is in shambles right now," she said.
Richardson also called for more social programming, both on a campus-wide scale through the creation of another large dance event similar to Fall Ball and Winter Bash, and in terms of class-specific events.
Turning to another topic, the junior, who served as chair of Senate's Education Committee this year, said she would promote students' rights as much as possible. "The police treat us like children when we really should be treated like adults," she said.
Jake Maccoby spoke second. "My campaign is not about platitude, it's not about high-minded concepts - it's about real, detailed policies with real, achievable goals," he said.
Maccoby has never sat on Senate before, unlike DiBiase, who has two years of experience, and Richardson, who has one year. He addressed this subject in his opening statement.
"I'm a newcomer to the Senate, but I also believe there are more ways than Senate to be a leader on campus."
The sophomore, who is a brother at Sigma Phi Epsilon and has participated in theater and political groups, feels that Senate needs to connect with leaders of other organizations more than it does currently. "At this time what we're dealing with is a situation where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing," he said.
Maccoby cited three proposals he would seek to actualize in order to reach his aim of greater interconnectivity: holding quarterly town meetings, having a Greek ambassador regularly attend Senate meetings, and ensuring the invitation of student leaders to Senate meetings when the subject matter of the meeting pertains to them.
In his speech, DiBiase emphasized a need to "transform the Senate into a Senate that really represents all students."
According to DiBiase, who is currently the TCU Senate historian and also serves as the chair of both the Services Committee and the Allocations Board, this involves establishing a Senate liaison program to better represent the Tufts student community.
"All it takes is every senator to cover three or four organizations - organizations that are recognized by the TCU, and organizations that students associate themselves with," he said. "Groups and people need one contact in the Senate - the Senate is confusing enough for senators. People need one contact they can go to."
Next came questions from sophomore and TCU Judiciary Chair Daniel Halper, who served as the moderator of the debate. All of the questions were drawn from suggestions submitted by the candidates themselves.
The first question posed to the candidates concerned Senate's allocation of the student activities fee: "People often complain that their student activities fee doesn't affect them. How do you feel about this statement?"
Maccoby responded first: "It's like taxes. They're unfortunate and no one likes them, but in the end they give the government the ability to do things for people that people won't pick up on their own," he said.
"I think that's important," he said. "Even if you're not directly affected by this, if the Senate isn't directly catering to you, it's trying to cater to a multitude of people."
In his response to the same question, DiBiase said, "I think that the way we budget this campus is a problem."
He feels that groups seeking new funding are too often made to fit "organizational models" that do not actually serve their functions. "I think the reason for that is that we don't understand the groups that we're budgeting," he said.
Richardson was the last to respond to the question.
"I don't see the manifestation of every penny of my student activities fund ... I don't even see a little bit of it sometimes," she said. "Part of it is because there isn't enough going on in terms of class council programming - coordinated programming by each class for each class," Richardson said.
The three candidates were later asked about their views on the administration's reaction to The Primary Source's publication of the carol "O Come All Ye Black Folk."
Richardson responded first: "Personally, I think that they responded too late and too weakly," she said. "It took four meetings, it seems like, and 5,000 e-mails from concerned alumni, parents, faculty, etc. for [University President Lawrence] Bacow to actually send a strong e-mail stating his opinion that he condemned the actions of The Primary Source."
She supports a three-strike policy to hold student media groups accountable for their publications.
"Whoever goes against the [university's] Non-Discrimination Policy three times - you lose your recognition and you lose your funding." Richardson said. "I think that's entirely fair. It does not limit free speech and it promotes tolerance and unity on campus."
Maccoby answered next: "It was a good response; it came too late," he said of the administration's efforts.
He also praised the student body's response in the carol's aftermath. "You had strong condemnation from students and I think that's a really good thing. I think students really took a hand in that conflict and really helped to resolve it to the extent it can be resolved."
DiBiase said he also felt that the administration's response came too late, but that the buck stopped at Senate.
"I think it's a shame and it's a failure of the Senate that we can't sit in a Senate meeting and really discuss these issues because we don't have enough information," he said.
Here DiBiase further pushed his plan for a Senate liaison program to connect the body with the feelings of other organizations.
"Hopefully next year we'll have senators in both of these communities that can sit in the Senate meeting and tell us both sides of the issue, so we can make an informed decision and go to the administration earlier, before these things happen," he said.
The second and final presidential debate is scheduled for Monday from 8-9:30 p.m. in Sophia Gordon Hall.
