E-Board Candidates Duke It Out

Candidates at Monday night's Columbia College Student Council executive board debate spared few words to defend their experience and ideas for the future of the school.

As they talked of freedom of speech, council transparency, and club funding, members from each of the three tickets-One Columbia, Rebel CC, and Voice-regularly spoke past the appointed time limits, pushing the debate half an hour overtime. "I have never seen such long sentences in my life," elections board chair Subash Iyer, CC '07, quipped, evoking laughter from audience members and candidates.

Featuring prominently into the debate was te charge by Tracy Chung, CC '08 and head of the Rebel CC party, that Michelle Diamond, CC '08 and head of the One Columbia party, had violated CCSC election bylaws by promising Student Governing Board members a funding increase in exchange for political support. The elections board ruled that the charge, and two others filed with it, were without merit Monday afternoon.

Asked if the accusations amounted to "mudslinging," Chung replied, "This was not a last-minute mudslinging strategy. We put a lot of thought into it."

Largely shielded from the the charges, Natali Segovia, CC '08 and head of the Voice party, said to the audience, "We played a fair game and that's what we're most proud of."

Each of the three parties trumpeted the importance of funding for student groups. Diamond said her ticket hoped to use the CCSC's surplus as a source for increasing this funding. Chung shot back, arguing that the surplus money was earmarked for major renovations such as updating Lerner's black box theater.

The parties also agreed that the council budget process should be made more transparent to increase accountability and voiced support for a refurbished CCSC Web site as a way to reduce council insularity. Glenn Thompson, CC '08 and One Columbia's candidate for VP for Communications, called the current site "horrible."

Likewise, all three tickets emphasized their support for free speech on campus. Asked how the council would handle a hypothetical crisis like Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist's Oct. 4 visit., Segovia said, "There was no stance from CCSC, and that is something we find problematic."