The two official slates of candidates running for the 2002-2003 term of Temple Student Government presented their platforms in a debate Monday that was devoid of any conflict.
The two slates call themselves Making It Better (MIB) and Unity University. MIB is focusing on fostering communication between students and streamlining policies at the various Temple campuses. Unity University’s platform is based on fostering cultural appreciation and providing information to students more efficiently. The two slates discussed their platforms during the debate, but did not argue the other’s points.
“[We will] work with the administration…making Temple a better place for students at Ambler, Center City, Health Sciences, Main and Tyler campuses,” said MIB presidential candidate Nicole Viscomi.
Students will vote for an entire slate as well as individual representatives in the elections being held Wednesday and Thursday.
Candidates running for executive positions run in slates of three candidates, one for TSG president, one for vice president of student affairs, and one for vice president of academic affairs.
The candidates for MIB are Viscomi for president, Quynh Tran for student affairs and Allen Chambers for Academic Affairs. Unity University is running Natasha Reid for president, Charisse Davidson for student affairs, and Dailey Greene for academic affairs.
The MIB candidates emphasized inter-campus communication as essential to student life. They proposed the creation of a Kickoff Block Party in the fall on Main Campus that would include organizations from all of the campuses.
MIB also wants to push for a consolidation of academic policies at Temple’s various campuses, schools and colleges. This streamlined set of policies would be made available to students through the Blackboard system.
In addition, MIB outlined changes to help freshmen. They said that they want to increase student awareness of Career Development Services to help guide students early on.
Chambers, who is a freshman this year, said that newly accepted students should be told that they will not be guaranteed housing after freshman year. He said that students have the right to know about this and possibly choose not to attend Temple rather than have them leave after their first year because of a housing shortage.
Unity University is proposing to enhance “diversity appreciation” on campus. They argued that although Temple is among the most diverse campuses in the country, students are not taking advantage of the distinctions.
“Most people see what is, but not what can be,” Reid said, quoting Albert Einstein.
Unity University wants to enlarge events such as Culture Fest as well as create new programs to increase cultural connections between students.
According to their platform statement, located on Temple’s online voting web site https://uvote.temple.edu, Unity University described Temple as a “microcosm of the diverse nature of the country we live in” but “culturally disconnected.”
They want to “create an atmosphere of cultural connection” by increasing activities during cultural heritage months.
“Our aim is to create an atmosphere of cultural connection,” they wrote.
In addition to increasing cultural awareness, Unity University argued that the availability of information concerning activities needs to be increased. They proposed an increase in volume and efficiency of promotion of campus events, as well as increased use of e-mail to notify students about upcoming activities.
Unity University also argues that school spirit needs to be increased. They would promote attendance at Temple sporting events, which they believe are key to fostering pride in Temple.
Students can learn more about the candidates and vote online at https://uvote.temple.edu.
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