USG hosts its final 2016 presidential debate

The Undergraduate Student Government presidential and vice presidential tickets debated their platform points on important campus issues Monday night in the Campus Center, preceding the first day of elections Tuesday.

The tickets, the first consisting of Program Board Finance Director Edwin Saucedo and USG Director of University Affairs Austin Dunn and the second of Senatorial Aide Charlie Henriquez and Residential Student Government Vice President of Programming Cole Pham, were asked questions by Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and Neha Wadekar, a graduate student pursuing her master’s in journalism.

Following their opening remarks and a brief moment of silence in memory of a student that had passed away earlier that night, the panelists asked the presidential candidates about sexual assault on campus.

Henriquez advocated for the hiring of a sexual assault examiner on campus to oversee cases of sexual violence.

“Our ticket, something that we’re really advocating is the hiring of a sexual assault examiner,” Henriquez said. “This is somebody who is trained to see these cases and make sure everything is being taken care of medically and legally. If we can bring someone like this to campus, I think this is something that can actually help the USC community overall from all places.”

When Wadekar noted how all four candidates are men, Saucedo stressed the importance of student input to help shape sexual assault policies.

“I can’t live through the experience of a woman on campus, I can’t put myself in their own shoes, but what I can do is inform myself as much as possible,” Saucedo said. “Another one of my platform points is to invite student leaders from student advocate groups.”

In the next segment of the debate, the vice presidential candidates took turns questioning the opposing presidential candidate. Then the candidates for vice president fielded questions from the moderators themselves.

When asked about the potential of a fall break, Pham, who is from Louisiana, spoke of the importance of extending Thanksgiving break to give students — especially those from out of state — more time to spend with their families.

“Simply because for students traveling across country such as me, it’s much easier to stay home for the extra four days because two days is [the] only instructional time that is off,” Pham said.

Dunn instead advocated for a separate fall break, in lieu of an extended Thanksgiving break, in order to give students more time off to benefit their mental health.

“The purpose of [a fall break] would be to give students a creative time for stress relief as opposed to an additional partying time or time to be with their families,” Dunn said. “As great as that is, that’s not what the institution is looking to do.”

The debate then shifted back to the presidential candidates, where the question was raised about how the presidential hopefuls would stand up for students without alienating administrators. Saucedo said that it was important to cooperate with administrators and consider their point of view.

“There will be times where we have to reach compromise, but that compromise shouldn’t have to be at the expense of the student body,” Saucedo said.

Henriquez emphasized that the administration should serve students.

“The administration is nothing without the students. The administration is here for students, just like USG should be,” Henriquez said.

After a second round of questioning and a rapid-fire question round, the candidates delivered their closing statements.

Saucedo-Dunn closed the debate by saying that they want to represent the entire student body.

“This campaign is about something bigger than just us two. We really want to understand different issues that every single student on campus experiences, and that’s something we want to continue going into the upcoming school year,” Saucedo said.

Henriquez-Pham spoke about how honored they were to be given the opportunity to represent the Trojan family.

“I would like to express for USC and my love for this new home I’ve found from coming from so far away, and I really just hope through our platform I can give that love and feeling of home to others at USC,” Pham said.

The event ended with several brief presentations by potential USG senate candidates. Voting will take place from Feb. 9-11 in Hahn Plaza.