'Carolina Week' Hosts Candidates on Air

Student body president candidates responded to a mix of serious and fun questions during Thursday's taping of "Carolina Week," the television news program produced by students of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Senior Tim Nelson moderated the debate, which six candidates attended. Write-in candidates Correy Campbell and Charlie Trakas did not attend.

The program began with a discussion about what traits are important for a student body president to have.

Candidate Will McKinney said knowledge is the single trait that a student body president most needs.

"I think a student body president needs to know the University," he said.

Write-in candidate Nathan Katzin said the most important trait is the ability to be an effective and charismatic leader. "You need to be able to get people involved," he said.

Candidate Fred Hashagen said the student body president's role is to motivate students.

"Student mobilization is one of the key things that any student body president can do around any issues like tuition, parking or grade inflation," he said.

Candidate Brad Overcash said it is important for the student body president to foster campus unity, and he said his proposed student summit could accomplish this.

"The idea behind it is to gather as much of the student body into the Great Hall," he said.

Much of the "Carolina Week" discussion centered on tuition issues.

Candidate Jen Daum said rising tuition has made UNC inaccessible for some prospective students.

"We need to show the administration and the General Assembly what they're losing," she said.

Candidate Bennett Mason said he wants students to cooperate with the UNC Board of Trustees in discussions about tuition issues. He said that as student body president -- and subsequently a voting member of the BOT -- he would strive to work with trustees effectively. "If we try to work with them as a voting member, we can really accomplish a lot," he said.

McKinney said he plans to work toward a degree of predictability for tuition increases. "It's not totally infeasible," he said.

Another portion of the program focused on the plausibility of the candidates' platforms actually being implemented

Hashagen said that while his platform is long, its more than 70 points are all attainable. "Some are feasible in a year, and some are long-term goals," he said.

Katzin said his platform of progressive energy reform is realistic.

"(My platform) aims big with the understanding that maybe not everything will happen, but a lot of it will," he said.

Overcash said criticisms of his platform as "fluffy" are unfounded. "Every point on my platform is a real idea, a feasible idea, something that can really be done," he said.

During the taping, the candidates had the chance to express their passion for the University and promote the special features of their platforms.

Daum said her passion for the University will transfer to her service as student body president, if she is elected.

"I'm the candidate for Carolina because I truly, deeply care about everything that's on this platform and a lot of things that aren't," she said.

Mason said the campuswide "Unity Day" he plans to establish will bring students together.

"Basically, it's a way of getting students to participate in things," he said.

The special edition of the show will air at 10 p.m. today on Channel 8 and again at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 on Student Television.

 

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.