It is election season again at UCF, and this year Jessica Gottsleben and Lucdwin Luck are hoping to become the next SGA President and Vice-President.
Voting for SGA candidates begins on Monday and unless you’ve been to the debates, checked out the candidates’ platforms online, or talked to the candidates personally, there is a good chance you do not know what each candidate stands for.
KnightNews.com sat down with each of the candidates personally to discuss issues such as campaign spending, student safety, Greek affairs, the handling of the currently estimated $17.5 million dollar A&SF Budget and much more.
We will first look into Jessica Gottsleben and Lucdwin Luck who are running under the campaign slogan “Revolutionizing Knighthood”.
Who are they?
Presidential candidate Jessica Gottsleben is a senior double-majoring in Radio and Television Broadcast and Political Science Pre-Law with a minor in Public Administration. Her list of campus involvement over her tenure at UCF is too long to list, but she’s been the Honors Congress Vice-President, the KnightCast Student Director and part of the University Fee Committee this year just to name a few.
Lucdwin Luck is a Political Science major with minors in Business, Economic Policy and Sociology. He transferred to UCF in Fall 2012 from Seminole State College of Florida and is a proud veteran of the United States Marines, where he served six years. Luck is a brother of the Theta Chi fraternity and was the first runner up for Mr. UCF.
What sets them apart
Jessica Gottsleben will be quick to tell you that this SGA Presidential Campaign hasn’t gotten chippy as it has in years past. When KnightNews.com asked if there is any glaring issue they disagree with on the Weston/Sydney platform, Jessica focused looking at the positivity of her platform.
“We’re very positive in our outlook, because we’re very positive about what we can accomplish on our platform and what we can do because we’re very passionate,” Gottsleben said.
Lucdwin Luck has undoubtedly had to deal with stressful situations after serving in the United States Marines for six years. As a transfer student who has been so involved since coming to UCF, Luck is the definition of a passionate student.
The Jessica/Luck campaign is also video savvy, they made this campaign video that has the support of Nate McCoole, the world’s strongest teen:
The Issues
Jessica and Luck have a much more specific platform than Weston and Sydney, with specific points such as a convenience tab with issues such as more outlets in the library and more charging stations in the Student Union. Jessica and Luck do not have the huge issue of tackling the lobbying for a pedestrian bridge like Weston and Sydney do on their platform, but instead smaller issues that would be easier to accomplish.
The Jessica/Luck ticket is not afraid to take a stance on transparency issues around UCF. During the official Presidential debate Jessica said that transparency in SGA has been an issue. As a member of the Theta Chi fraternity, Lucdwin Luck supported opening up Greek hazing hearings to the public to increase transparency.
“I believe meetings or hearings such as that should be open to the public, in terms of allowing them to see what’s going on, it’s a concerning issue for the whole community,” Luck said.
