At the second debate for the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska elections, the executive board candidates focused on sustainability and diversity on campus.
The debate was moderated by the Environmental Resource Center, the Progressive Student Coalition and the Queer Student Alliance.
The first question concerned sustainability and what the parties would do to make the campus more sustainable.
FUSION's presidential candidate Reid DeSpiegelaere, a junior history major, said the party would like to expand what ASUN could do with the Athletic Department, saying there could be recycling after more sports events, such as volleyball games, and not just before and after football games.
He also cited FUSION's carpool pass plan, which would allow communal parking for students.
"We're the only party that has a mainstream platform that is geared around sustainability," he said.
Kiana Mathew, a sophomore agricultural sciences major and the internal vice presidential candidate for FUSION, also talked about drafting a green constitution that would create a custom and tailor-made recycling program for each building on campus, so students can have better accessibility.
RENEW's presidential candidate Cori Curtis, a senior international relations and political science major, said, "You have to launch a cultural movement that is launched from your peers."
The candidates in the RENEW Party have proven that sustainability was more than just a catch phrase, he said.
It is getting the students behind a common vision and working tangibly towards those goals, Curtis said. Curtis continued that he, along with his two candidates for external and internal vice president Sammy Nabulsi, a junior political science major and Katherine White, a junior music major, can make the university a leader in sustainability.
What sets RENEW apart from the other parties is that it wants to get one common message across about sustainability on campus, he said.
The presidential candidate for N VISION Justin Solomon, a junior family sciences major, emphasized the need for sustainable language in the project contracts UNL makes with outside businesses.
"I would like to point out that we're the only party that seems to think sustainable language in university contracts is a good thing," he said.
He also spoke out against FUSION's carpool platform.
"If we're going to look at other carpool systems, we also have to point out that students who are co-habitating here at the university will not be able to share the same carpool permit," he said. "That's a problem."
FUSION's external vice presidential candidate Emily Schlichting, a junior political science major, rebutted these remarks. "I would like to see the research and the rules that state that people who live together cannot share a carpool pass," she said, "because the one we modeled ours off of does allow that."
Currently, the university does not have employee plus one benefits, and the parties debated that.
Nabulsi said there needs to be dialogue.
"That discussion needs to come up again," he said.
All three of the parties agreed that the Board of Regents have to be involved in discussion.
"I agree that we have to open up dialogue with the Board of Regents," Solomon said. "I can say I've already done that."
Going back to the topic of sustainability, the parties were asked about bicycling on campus.
DeSpiegelaere said FUSION would create bike lanes and work with landscape services.
Nabulsi said that was a great start, but that it would not necessarily create more bike riders on campus. The availability of bikes will make that happen, he said, and there should be a system to rent bikes at different locations on campus.
"We can encourage the use of bikes from those who don't actually have bikes," he said.
Solomon said N VISION would apply for a grant and work with the state to get bike racks that can be used to protect the students' bikes as well as offer shower stations in public locations.
Schlichting disagreed with Nabulsi's idea.
"For students who live off-campus, I think that poses a bit of an issue," she said.
During closing statements, Nabulsi spoke for the RENEW Party.
"What you will find is that the members in the party have already done this," he said. "Make sure you pick the party that has set the framework and talked with the individuals."
N VISION's external vice presidential candidate Jamie Dick, a junior marketing and business administration major, closed for her party.
"Tonight, we're not just telling you our ideas of what we want to do this next year, but what we want to continue from these past three years," she said.
DeSpiegelaere said the final remarks.
"We will be proactive in reaching out to the heart of the university, the students on campus," he said.
kimbuckley@dailynebraskan.com