2008 Woodie Awards
ASG candidates discuss UA election issues
Student Government
Jack Willems
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
Associated Student Government presidential candidates discussed growing tuition, new campus additions and the need for faculty members during a debate Wednesday night. The ASG election will start Monday.
To keep tuition down, presidential candidate Jacob Holloway said he opposes buying Fayetteville High School and other expansions while putting pressure on the Arkansas legislature for more funds.
"Read my lips, no new HPER," Holloway said.
Andrew "Vu" Ritchie agreed that tuition was getting too high but said he also believes the university needs to expand. The UA can offset the increase in tuition by delving into its endowment to provide scholarships to students in financial need, he said, and he believes the university also needs to attract more faculty members.
Candidate Carter Ford said he didn't endorse a resolution that stated ASG did not support buying Fayetteville High School because they did not know all of the facts about the situation.
Another issue brought up at the debate was improving the representation of the student body to the administration.
Student government shares governance with the administration. The president needs to be someone who can build a relationship with the new chancellor, Ford said, who plans to conduct a poll of UA students to determine which issues are most important to them.
"This will allow ASG to pursue the issues students care about and not have ASG just doing the things they want to do," Ford said.
Chancellor-elect G. David Gearhart has agreed to have two meetings a month with the ASG president, Ritchie said. During these meetings, the president would voice the concerns of students directly to the chancellor. Ritchie would ascertain these concerns from town hall meetings and suggestions submitted by the student body, he said.
"Our relationship with the administration is there. It is built," Ritchie said.
Holloway said he wants to expand the powers of ASG so it might accomplish more. The university needs to have a constitutional convention so it can draft its own Constitution and ratify it by referenda, he said.
To keep tuition down, presidential candidate Jacob Holloway said he opposes buying Fayetteville High School and other expansions while putting pressure on the Arkansas legislature for more funds.
"Read my lips, no new HPER," Holloway said.
Andrew "Vu" Ritchie agreed that tuition was getting too high but said he also believes the university needs to expand. The UA can offset the increase in tuition by delving into its endowment to provide scholarships to students in financial need, he said, and he believes the university also needs to attract more faculty members.
Candidate Carter Ford said he didn't endorse a resolution that stated ASG did not support buying Fayetteville High School because they did not know all of the facts about the situation.
Another issue brought up at the debate was improving the representation of the student body to the administration.
Student government shares governance with the administration. The president needs to be someone who can build a relationship with the new chancellor, Ford said, who plans to conduct a poll of UA students to determine which issues are most important to them.
"This will allow ASG to pursue the issues students care about and not have ASG just doing the things they want to do," Ford said.
Chancellor-elect G. David Gearhart has agreed to have two meetings a month with the ASG president, Ritchie said. During these meetings, the president would voice the concerns of students directly to the chancellor. Ritchie would ascertain these concerns from town hall meetings and suggestions submitted by the student body, he said.
"Our relationship with the administration is there. It is built," Ritchie said.
Holloway said he wants to expand the powers of ASG so it might accomplish more. The university needs to have a constitutional convention so it can draft its own Constitution and ratify it by referenda, he said.
Be the first to comment on this story