Photos by Evie Carpenter and Stephanie Snyder/DD
The third annual Downtown Devil Presidential Debate, held Tuesday evening in the First Amendment Forum, focused on rising tuition, fees and the qualifications of each candidate and their running mate.
ASASUD Presidential candidates criminal justice sophomore Joseph Grossman, journalism sophomore Andres Cano and nutrition freshman Diana Inzunza and their respective running mates debated these issues and more for more than two hours.
One of the most discussed issues was that of tuition and fee increases and what each candidate would do to stop the hikes.
This subject is one of the major issues on which Grossman is running.
He said he believes ASASUD can affect how much students are paying in tuition, especially by using professional lobbyists and through ASA.
“Tuition has gone up for seven years now, and that’s not okay, and ASU shouldn’t be allowing that,” Grossman said. “We should have the best lobbyist fighting for our tuition because that’s what we want. I don’t want tuition increases anymore; I’m sure you guys don’t want tuition increases anymore.”
While tuition costs have already been set for the next academic year, Grossman said that he would be trying to ensure it does not go up in future years.
Inzunza said she believed that tuition increases are a reality students will have to face, and there is little ASASUD can do to change that.
She also said she believes the scheduled student fee increase — which will move the student fee from $25 per semester to $75 — is not negative. There are clubs on campus that need money, and they have nowhere else to get it, she said.
“You get what you pay for,” Inzunza said. “We’re talking about our education here, and if we want a good quality education … something that’s going to help us, we can’t just complain.”
Cano echoed Inzunza’s remark about tuition, saying it is inevitable that tuition will go up. However, Cano said that the student government should focus on reducing the fees that are added on top of tuition, which add to cost of attendance.
“(The fees) don’t make sense, and they’re increasing how much we’re paying here at ASU,” Cano said. “We need to get creative about how we’re dealing with our finances.”
Cano said Grossman’s stance — that lobbying is needed to affect tuition costs — has already been done by ASA, and it has not been very effective because of the current financial circumstances Arizona faces. Other organizations need to step in and help ASA, which is where ASASUD can step in, Cano said.
Also, Cano said the increase of student fees should be equally shared between the many organizations on campus, not just the major organizations.
The candidates’ experience was also a popular topic at the debate.
As the only freshman running for president, Inzunza said her experience as president and secretary in student council at her high school and her time at the ASU summer-bridge program would assist her in being an effective president.
Journalism junior Rudy Rivas, Inzunza’s running mate, said his experience comes from his living on the Downtown campus for three years, being involved on campus and knowing how this campus works. He is also the president of ASU’s Radio Television Digital News Association.
Grossman said he is qualified because he knows how lobbying in professional setting is done; he currently works for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office working on lobbying and works underneath “one of the best lobbyists in the state.” He is also the vice president of College Republicans at ASU Downtown.
His running mate, criminal justice sophomore David Bakardjiev, said he is qualified to be vice president because of his community-service projects and experience in lobbying.
Cano said his experience comes from being a freshman senator last year, staying up-to-date on the issues affecting the Downtown campus and getting to know students on campus to learn what they want.
Journalism freshman Brittany Morris is Cano’s running mate, and she said her experience comes from working for ASA last semester in lobbying and also coming from a family of educators with education “near and dear” to her heart.
Grossman said he was disappointed in the other candidates because he was the only person on Taylor Mall today, meeting students and telling them of his candidacy.
Inzunza and Cano responded that, if it weren’t for needing approval from the election committee, they would have been campaigning outside on Tuesday as well.
They said they would be meeting students out on Taylor Mall in the coming days.
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
Check out #DDdebate on Twitter to see what students were saying Tuesday evening during the debate.
