UPDATE: In light of a controversy over the recording of last night's FLC debate, we've updated our story to include audio from the closing statements from both parties.
The audio was collected for note-taking purposes and was not intended for distribution, so please excuse the poor audio quality. Check back for our full transcript.
The one and only two-sided student government debate brought cheers, snaps and hollers from students during Tuesday night’s debate.
The debate, hosted by Freshman Leadership Council, brought in about 500 students. The executive candidates for Access and Swamp Party answered eight questions, plus two that were pulled from the audience using the hashtag #UFDecides.
The crowd grumbled when moderator and UF journalism professor Mike Foley said only two questions would be used from the audience.
Access Party’s executive candidates are Joselin Padron-Rasines for Student Body president, Kevin Doan for Student Body vice president and Nicholas Carre for Student Body treasurer.
The executive candidates for Swamp Party are Joseph Michaels for Student Body president, Tia Smart for Student Body vice president and Hadar Arazi for Student Body treasurer.
Michaels said Swamp Party has a platform with attainable goals and will work to improve the lives of students.
“We will advocate for the needs of the students at this university,” Michaels said.
Swamp Party presidential candidate Joseph Michaels, an economics and political science senior, presents his opening statement at the Student Government Executive Debate Tuesday night in the University Auditorium.
Padron-Rasines said Access Party aims to make SG more accountable, affordable and accessible to students.
Foley, had to shush the audience several times due to extended applause following Padron-Rasines’ opening statement.
When Padron-Rasines said her party wanted to add gender neutral bathrooms around campus and to bring more gender minority speakers to Accent, the crowd erupted in cheers and claps.
Increasing voter turnout was a hot-button issue, with each party taking a firm side in support of higher turnout by using different methods.
Access advocated for online-voting to increase voter turnout while Swamp wanted to increase voting locations. Padron-Rasines said by using online voting, students who take online classes or are far from campus can still participate in Student Government.
Swamp, however, opposed online voting. Michaels said it isn’t always effective and online voting can lead to voter fraud.
“We want to protect the integrity of that vote by expanding voting locations,” he said.
Access rattled off a list of universities that have used online voting with success: FSU, FIU, UCF, Duke and Georgetown.
Swamp contested the FSU mention. Michaels argued that online voting decreased the overall amount of votes. Alligator archives show FSU began online voting in 2008, but as of press time, the percentage effect on overall votes could not be independently determined.
Another controversial issue was the representation of minority groups on campus.
The UF SERU survey from 2013 showed that 50 percent of black students and 67 percent of Asian students agreed or strongly agreed that students of their race/ethnicity were respected on campus. Padron-Rasines mentioned this statistic when she discussed how race was an issue that needed to be addressed on campus.
Smart addressed the question with information from a recent Gainesville Sun story that showed that black enrollment at UF declined by 50 percent. This statistic was misleading because it failed to report the way UF gathered its enrollment data changed in Fall 2010, according to an email from Brittany Davis, the communications director for the State University System of Florida Board of Governors.
Michaels closed his statement with a promise to students that Swamp Party plans to help students and student organizations of every background.
“As long as you’re qualified and as long as you can prove that you belong in the position you deserve that’s what matters,” he said.
Padron-Rasines ended the debate with a passionate speech denouncing Swamp Party’s past governance.
“Swamp Party has shown us that they are out of touch, on Feb. 24 and 25, let’s show them they’re out of time,” she said.
The audience rose and cheered with her statement.
Rosaura Yapur, 22, said she felt the debate was informative and powerful.
“I got a lot of insight to what both parties wanted to do,” the UF advertising senior said.
She said she usually doesn’t participate in elections because she said she felt like her vote didn’t made a difference.
“I think things sound more promising, so I'll definitely vote,” she said.
Elections are Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/18/2015 under the headline “SG debate highlights party platforms, draws crowd"]
Correction: The original story said there were ten questions, plus two from the audience. There were only eight questions with two from the audience. Additionally, Kerrie Montgomery never spoke during the debate, nor did she ever appear on stage to be tied to this statement. The statement that only two questions would be used from the audience was made by moderator Mike Foley during the welcoming remarks.
Joselin Padron-Rasines, a political science and international studies junior, presents the Access Party opening statement for the University of Florida Student Government Executive Debate on Tuesday in the University Auditorium. Padron-Rasines is running as presidential candidate.
