The FMO/AAAB/Casa Hispane Debates: Night 2
The second day of the AAAB/Casa Hispana/FMO debates began on quite a low key. A low turnout, rich in ASG content set a very insider atmosphere to this portion of the debates. Manu Bhardwaj was set to face off against Todd Connor in the Academic Vice Presidential debates. Both candidates showed strengths in various areas—Todd was well-prepared, well composed, very loose—while Manu was more emotionally charged. Manu obviously cared deeply about the issues being debated than Todd, who seemed very distant from the minority crowd in attendance.
As the debate was set to close, this observer had Manu in the lead. Although Manu appeared nervous at first, once settled in his passionate responses gave him an upper edge over Connor. However, the moderator allowed the debate to continue, promising to take questions from the audience until there were none left. This move was fatal to Manu. Manu appeared mentally fatigued down the long stretch, occasionally burying his face in his hands. On one question, Manu appeared to completely circumvent the question in his response. He was asked if he had ever been in a situation where he had to try and get something from somebody who didn’t want to give it to him. Manu, instead of coming up with a situation, talked about his connections with the administration and who he would turn to to get something done. An obvious mental slip in this writer’s opinion.
Conner, however, was not without his flaws. After dicussing CAS issues for most of the night, Connor was asked what he would do to help the other four schools. Connor’s response was that he felt CAS was the most important of the 5 schools, and should lead the way. He then continued to respond, however, this slip of the tongue illustrates a prejudice which I’m not sure I want in an elected official. Connor also attempted to humor the crowd; while he received a warm response after his first joke, the crowd remained fairly silent after his second attempt. I’m not sure if the crowd didn’t appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood, or if the jokes were just bad.
All in all, I would have to consider this debate a draw, with Connor holding a slight edge. Had the debate ended as planned, I would have considered Manu the outright winner. However, the combination of Connor’s preparedness and stamina proved too much for his opponent in the long haul. I am looking forward to the Norris debates, as I will be looking to this rematch to decide who the worthier candidate really is.
The second half of the debate had sparser attendance and certainly was more relaxed. Jenny Moore, the only candidate for Student Services Vice President, presented a clear, articulate speech. Her talk started with a vision for how to deal with the issues faced by students in the sponsoring organizations, but then defined her agenda for the campus as a whole. If this had been a debate, only another confident person with another strong, well-researched platform could have stood a chance. She was comfortable but not condescending.
This was really noticeable when the question session came up. Only a few people had questions; several others offered comments that she responded to well. From Blomquist usage to the proposed multicultural center, she handled all with aplomb. Really, as often is with the SSVP race, the question was not what students want, but how to get it all from the administration. After all, most people agree we want some kind of improvement from SAGA/Marriot, and most people agree that the resources for minorities on this campus are woeful. The only question is which will consume the most energy from this position.
And in that, the questioners themselves were sometimes unreasonable. I mean, the multicultural center is something she clearly wants in some form, which she wants to get as soon as possible from the administration; why belabor the point? In the same way picky points about more basketball courts or exactly how to get better food at Norris are superfluous; this is one candidate who has all the bases covered with reasonable suggestions for improving student life.
—Mr. Black
One further note on the Student Services debate comes from Ms. Blonde:
Only one suggestion for Jenny Moore: while the upbeat tone of the talk was filled with references to her work on various task forces and how eager to help staff she has worked with are, the invective directed at Vice President Peggy Barr was totally unnecessary. She’s already worked with administrators, and hence knows at least a little bit how to mollify them and how to get them to take students seriously. Don’t ruin it just because one person who asked you a question has a problem with her; Peggy Barr is still your most powerful ally, and very often a helpful, willing one. Other than that, just keep on absorbing all the suggestions and you’ll help this campus a lot.