After the magnitude of an issue that UCF dealt with in Tower 1 not even a week old, as well as the unstable economy that has led to multiple fee and tuition hikes, the SGA Presidential election could mean more to UCF students than ever this year.
Monday marks the first day of SGA candidate voting, and unless you watched the debates or went to platform rallies there’s a good chance you have no idea what either of these candidates are offering.
Instead of being enticed to vote for the first candidate you see with a fresh box of pizza as you walk to or from class, KnightNews.com took it upon ourselves to break down the candidates into an easy-to-read format that highlights each candidates platform.
We have been to every debate, multiple campaign rallies, and asked the candidates the tough questions that the students really want to know the answers to.
This is not an endorsement for either candidate. After getting to know both candidates, we thought a more unbiased pro/con style format would be more beneficial to the students rather than an official endorsement.
Working with Administration:
When a new SGA president is elected, they are also elected to represent the student body on the Board of Trustees at UCF. It is vital that the students have a strong voice representing them in Board of Trustee meetings where fee raises, campus additions, and other important issues are voted on.
Andy + Zac have been very outspoken on their feelings with the administration on multiple occasions in debates and interviews. It is clear that Andy Green is not afraid to take a strong stance on an issue that might not be popular with the rest of the Board of Trustees.
On the other ticket, Melissa Westbrook has years of experience working with administration. Her amiable personality may be beneficial to helping sway opinions of Board of Trustees to the interests of students. On top of that, Melissa has the endorsement of the current SGA President and Vice-President Cortez Whatley and Rachel Brill.
Student Safety:
After the Tower 1 incident, UCF campus safety has been put in the spotlight. KnightNews.com focused on campus safety during one of our post-debate questions which you can see here. One of the highlights of Andy + Zac’s campaign is to offer better campus lighting, Melissa and Jacob do not directly address the issue of lighting but instead have a Map of Emergency Pole Locations highlighted in their safety section of their platform.
Greek Life interests:
The four candidates are all Greek, ranging from IFC, National Pan-Hellenic, and business fraternities. The question was a pivot point of the debate period where the Andy/Zac ticket flat out asked if the Melissa/Jacob ticket supported the Greek ban, the Melissa/Jacob did not clearly state at the time. However, at a later time they assured they did not support the Greek ban. You can see the full statements both presidential candidates released to KnightNews.com on the issue here. The Andy/Zac ticket has received the endorsement of current IFC President Shane Alexander.
Improving the Student Experience:
Improving the student experience is one of the intangibles of an SGA presidential campaign. It focuses on the smaller things that directly affect the students. Highlights of the Andy/Zac ticket include putting student run small businesses in the vacant retail space on campus and building school spirit by starting a spring style Spirit Splash event. Melissa and Jacob have a far more expansive platform on the student experience, but a lot simpler, and not as quite elaborate as the Andy/Zac ticket. Melissa and Jacob’s ideas include shuttle services to grocery stores, free copy services, a bike path, and accessibility to Limited Computer Software(Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, etc.).
Improving the Campus:
Improving the Campus focuses on the candidate that stresses the need to keep improving our campus. The highlights in the Melissa/Jacob ticket on this issue include integrating a solar powered recycling system as well as Knight-Care, opt-in UCF health insurance. The Melissa/Jacob ticket earned an endorsement from the College Democrats.
Andy + Zac’s highlights include installing Knight-Nap an on campus sleep center for students, an assortment of improvements to the Rosen campus including reopening a student run cafe, and a bike share service.
Improving SGA:
The final issue we looked at was improving SGA at UCF. Both candidates strongly support making SGA more transparent and accessible to any student, including making senate minutes easily accessible(Andy/Zac) and live streaming senate meetings(Melissa/Jacob).
