Candidates voice plans at SG presidential debate
Students at Wednesday night’s Student Government [SG] presidential debate at the Rathskeller said that candidates Robert Castro and Scott Sadowski presented strong cases and ideas to the audience, but that candidate Andy Cohn lacked the experience needed to fill the position.
Cohn admits to his lack of preparation and experience; Castro says he brings well-rounded leadership experience to his candidacy; Sadowski says he brings SG experience and a close relationship with administration to his candidacy.
“Leadership is something that helps you get close to campus,” Cohn said. “I’ll get to know the administration once I get elected.”
“Not only am I a leader, but I’m a well-rounded leader,” Castro said.
“I have no problems making Student Government and the University the best in the country,” Sadowski said. “Past performance is an excellent indicator of future potential.”
Students present at the debate reacted to the candidates but said they wish that there would have been more audience involvement.
“I think it would have been nice to have more student involvement,” Katie Wood, sophomore, said. “Students need to be educated before they vote.”
“I think that all of the candidates got their platforms across,” Wood said.
One graduate student, Rodrigo Gasteazoro, gave his perspective on all three candidates.
“Andy would be a good candidate if he had been a little more prepared,” Gasteazoro said. “I was very worried about Robert’s involvement, but I think that he would be able to handle the position. Scott’s ideas are great, but a lot are already in progress. I would like to see what else he would do.”
“It should be interesting to see the results of the elections,” Gasteazoro said.
During the Q & A session at the debate, written questions directed toward all of the candidates were anonymously submitted to a member of the Elections Commission.
“There should have been more audience participation,” Ann Reifel, sophomore, said. “I would have liked to have been able to ask personal questions about each candidate’s goals and platforms.”
At one point, the moderator said that she was going to read the final question. However, after the question was answered, the moderator later decided that the question, referring to how each candidate would handle all of his other leadership positions if elected SG president, would not be the last and decided instead to ask a question handed to her at the last minute by a representative of the Elections Commission that referred to the Honor Council policies at UM.
The Miami Hurricane will continue to investigate the manner in which the debate was conducted to establish whether any rules or regulations were violated by members of the Elections Committee.
Leigha Taber can be contacted at l.taber@umiami.edu