Disclaimer: Alina Ta, executive editor for the Spartan Daily, was one of the moderators at the debate.
Debates between candidates for the Associated Student Board of Directors happened in the Student Union meeting room 2B on Monday evening.
Associated Students is a SJSU student affairs organization that advocates for students, according to the Associated Student webpage.
It is a 501(c)3 non-profit auxiliary organization with a $9 million budget that operates nine departments through its Board of Directors, according to its SJSU website.
Chief Elections Officer Leonardo Plazola, moderated the debate alongside SJSU’s student publications editors.
“We have 13 positions inside the Board of Directors,” Plazola said. “In this debate, we’re going to be having 12 debates for each respective position.”
Presidential Candidates
Kicking off the debate were three out of the five presidential candidates, they were given three questions each and each had a minute to respond.
Plazola asked the candidates how they will bridge the gap between the student population and the Associated Student Board of Directors.
Electrical and electronics junior Umama Oishi said she can relate to feeling unseen on campus and wants to give every student a chance to feel the power of their individuality.
“How I’m going to bridge the gap is creating a platform for students so they can voice what kinds of needs they have,” Oishi said.
Ariana Lacson, a bioengineering junior and currently the vice president for Associated Students, said she hopes to expand the marketing of the MyVoice SJSU Survey Program.
“It’s a way for students to directly communicate to their faculty and staff through AS,” Lacson said.
Lacson said she wants to expand social media presence, host monthly town hall meetings with recognized student organization leaders, write monthly newsletters and expand on a master resource document.
Political science junior Graciela Marcial said she wants to increase the marketing of Associated Students.
“I feel like a lot of things that could be marketed are not marketed,” Marcial said, “A lot of people do not know what the AS board is.”
She said she wants to utilize media such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram to market the Associated Students Board along with meeting organizations during meeting times.
Vice President Candidates
Following the presidential candidates, the two vice presidential candidates debated for 10 minutes, having a minute each to answer three questions.
Plazola asked the candidates how they would hold the board of directors accountable for their job performance, conduct and collaboration.
Political science junior Chima Nwokolo said he wants to conduct one-on-ones when holding members accountable for conduct issues.
“I would try to talk to them head on to explain the issue that they came up with and try to find some way in order to get back on track,” Nwokolo said.
He said he would go through a conduct process and make sure the board of directors and the entire board knows in order to create transparency.
Kinesiology sophomore Sahib Siya Johal said she wants to facilitate communication between individuals.
“To hold everyone accountable, including myself,” Johal said. “I think listening actively (and) understanding each and every conflict or question brought up.”
She said that there are multiple routes you could take to find solutions, so finding common ground and exploring solutions.
Controller
After the vice presidential debate was the Associated Student's controller debate, where one of the two candidates spoke.
A controller is a position that oversees the accounting operations of an organization, according to a webpage on Investopedia.
Similar to the vice presidential candidates, each controller candidate was given three questions with a minute to answer.
Computer engineering junior Sidhant Sadawarti said he wanted to bridge the gap between the Associated Student Board and students through proper communication.
“I would make sure that all things are promoted properly so that all the students get to know what's happening in director meets and in the committees.” Sadawarti said.
He said he could coordinate Associated Student goals to make student life and experiences for students better.
Karson Wells, an executive producer for Update News, helped moderate the debates.
“How will you use things like scholarships to support the student body?” Wells asked.
Sadawarti said that one of his goals is to increase the scholarship budget and make two or three different categories.
“I would also want to make two or three more different categories in which scholarships (are) provided,” Sadwarti said.
He was also questioned about how he would help to ensure even distributions among student organizations.
“I would want to make sure that every club gets the money,” Sadawarti said. “That it is not just restricted to the STEM majors.”
