Jon Barnhart has plenty of Student Association experience under his belt to help him if he were to become president of Syracuse University’s student body government. Hari Iyer, his opponent, admits that leadership is a bit foreign to him, but he knows how to take initiative and hit the ground running.

Barnhart, the current SA Student Engagement Committee chair, and Iyer, a newcomer to SA, took part in a debate Wednesday night answering questions from an audience of about 50 and a panel of campus media outlets in Maxwell Auditorium.

Both candidates are running for SA president in the first contested election in two years. They stood for the hour and 45 minute debate, relating cordially to one another and fielding a variety of questions, ranging from concerns about student tuition to the fate of MayFest.

Voting for SA president begins Monday on MySlice and runs through Nov. 12.

Barnhart spoke with ease on the issues he’s come to know well as a member of SA, while Iyer struggled with some questions, though he stuck to the campaign promises he would enforce if elected.

In response to what the candidates deem the five biggest issues facing students, Barnhart said there’s no easy answer.

‘There is no way we can determine five issues that pertain to all students on campus,’ Barnhart said. ‘There are so many more than five things we can work on on campus. The top five most important things will be different to all students.’

If elected, Barnhart said he plans to make sure assembly members will be out on campus talking to students.

He outlined an extensive plan he hopes will improve the quality of safety for students on campus. He also detailed plans for inclusion, fiscal responsibility and education in and out of classrooms for students.

Iyer said the five biggest issues are also based on what matters to students and what he’s learned from talking to them.

‘We need to look at new ways to do things and have a fresh start,’ Iyer said. ‘Look at the things that will really impact you and vote based on that.’

Iyer said he released a survey prior to the beginning of his campaign to find out the students’ primary concerns. He said it showed that the main concern of students was if their tuition money was going to the right places.

On the topic of tuition, both candidates said they want to inform students as to where their tuition money is going.

‘We have the right to influence what the school does as $50,000 customers,’ Iyer said.

Iyer said he had a problem with the use of students’ money toward the Connective Corridor, an initiative linking SU to the city of Syracuse. Barnhart jumped in and explained that student tuition does not go toward that initiative. He said the corridor is funded in three separate ways that do not take from students’ tuition.

When asked about how much freedom campus media outlets should have, Iyer said he believes student organizations should have every liberty to express their opinions, unless they are offending another student group.

‘We have to be careful to see the ethical rights of other student groups and that they are not violated,’ Iyer said.

Barnhart said he doesn’t think there should be censorship of campus media. Barnhart encouraged students who have a problem with something written by a campus media outlet to go to the writer or producer rather than act out.

MayFest was also a big topic of conversation at Tuesday’s debate. Iyer commended SA for its efforts in presenting student petitions to the administration, but said he believes the administration knew this would be the response of students, and he doesn’t think it’s going to change its decision now.

Barnhart, who has made presentations as a part of SU Showcase in front of empty classrooms, said he was let down when no one came to see his work.

Though he did not spend the day on Euclid Avenue like many of his peers, Barnhart said he understands that MayFest is a day to bring the university community together, and he believes students should fight for the day because of this.

Kayla Kaplan, an undecided freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that she thought the debate was somewhat of a lost cause for Iyer.

‘It was clear Barnhart had more passion and experience on how to be engaging to the student body,’ she said. ‘Iyer didn’t act professional nor showed he had potential to run a school of 13,000 students.’

Stephen Barton, a sophomore international relations major, said he noticed both candidates had opposing viewpoints on a lot of the issues.

‘I thought some good questions were asked and it’s a pretty even match,’ Barton said. ‘I think Jon has a lot of good ideas, but Hari outplayed him with the questions. Both candidates have important things to offer, and I hope the student body gets involved. This could be a good race.’

rltoback@syr.edu

Published on November 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm