Eight candidates for ASUA’s open senatorial seat wiped the sweat off their brow as they prepared for their first interview for the ASUA special elections.
Students were invited to come to the public forum prepared by the organization on Tuesday night. Candidates had their first interview for the position in front of not only the Associated Students of the University of Arizona officials, but also about 20 students.
Jeffrey Rightnowar
This pre-business sophomore said the biggest problem on campus is the student retention rates. With more than 40,000 students at the UA, Rightnowar said it’s easy for students to feel lost in bigger classes and not find their niche. To help students find the right major, he said he would push for a shadow program to be implemented, allowing students to sit in on some classes and speak to students within a particular major. To include students in more activities on campus, Rightnowar said he wants to host collegiate Olympics at the Student Recreation Center that will some day include Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.
Michael Truty
Truty is a philosophy freshman running on a platform of more accessibility and responsibility for ASUA. He added that students have a responsibility to the earth and that he would fight to implement the use of paper bags among the facilities at the UA.
Dylan Peterson
The accounting junior has been the cycling club’s president for two years and said he has yet to see an ASUA senator come to the one of his club’s meetings. His frustration with the transparency of ASUA has motivated him to run on the platform of improving relations between ASUA and students.
Devin Bembnister
Bembnister is a political science sophomore advocating to lower textbook costs, diversify scholarships and have a UA yard sale. Bembnister plans to lower textbook costs by mandating that professors who require textbooks they have authored agree to be monitored by the UA administration to keep track of how often the textbook is actually used. The UA yard sale idea incorporates students paying a small fee for a space on the UA Mall to sell, barter, swap and buy furniture and textbooks from other students with the leftover items going to goodwill.
Morgan Abraham
The engineering management junior wants to increase parking at the Rec Center, increase alumni networking and have Spring Fling held on campus. As the president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, Abraham has had previous leadership experience. By being a member of Greek Life, Abraham can use his connections to collaborate with ASUA to bring Spring Fling to campus this year.
Alex Barbee
The only female running for the seat is history junior Barbee. Her platform advocates for better disability access, a 24-hour coffee shop at the library and raising textbook sellback prices. After spending six months in a wheelchair after a car accident that left her with a shattered pelvis, Barbee said she has seen firsthand how hard it is for students with disabilities to get around campus. Barbee said that half of the wheelchair buttons don’t work and more elevator inspections are needed.
Christopher Chavez
Chavez is a biology freshman that came to the UA from a private Catholic high school, which he said he was able to attend due to private donors and tax credits. Chavez wants to push to work with Scholarship Universe to offer something similar to UA students. Chavez added that he also wants to create a mandatory survey for freshman students to find out their hobbies in order to present students with clubs that are compatible to them.
Jake Broido
Broido is a pre-law junior running on a platform of increasing job outreach for students, promoting the use of the Sun Link Tucson Modern Streetcar, and to increase school spirit. By holding small speaking events with alumni, students will have a chance to follow up with the speaker and have a mentor throughout college. Another idea of Broido’s is to hold a barbeque on the Mall where students can meet the athletes at the school.
Polls for voting on the seat will open at 8 a.m. on Oct. 3, and close at 8 p.m. Election results will be announced at 6 p.m. the following day.
