The Associated Students candidate debates kicked off with the vice president of financial affairs and vice president of university affairs positions at the Student Union Courtyard on March 17.

The debates, hosted and moderated by The Daily Aztec, allowed candidates to expand on their candidate statements, explain their strategies and question their opponents ahead of the elections, which open on March 23 and close on March 26 at 7 p.m.

Vice President of Financial Affairs 

Michael Moyer, Jake Camacho and Eric Krog are running for vice president of financial affairs, the position that heads the Financial Affairs Committee. This committee manages student fees and writes the yearly budget for A.S. facilities and programs.

Krog, a third-year major in computer science and economics, dominated the debate by questioning and countering his opponent, Moyer, a third-year finance major.

Krog’s campaign is centered around modernizing the A.S. online banking system, which he said is outdated and limits how much student organizations can fundraise.

Krog said recognized student organizations can’t take virtual payments for donations, and he also wants to simplify the RSO application and banking processes.

The Financial Affairs committee allocates $120,000 to recognized student organizations for programming each year, and this funding became the main topic of debate.

Moyer said student organizations are not receiving the funds they ask for, and he suggested a reallocation of funding towards RSOs. Krog called this lack of funding “a complete lie” and cited an excess of $10,000 in the College of Sciences, for which he currently serves as the A.S. representative.

Moyer also said he would restructure general education courses so that they emphasize financial resources on campus and promote financial literacy. Krog challenged him on how he would accomplish this within his position as a financial executive.

Camacho, a third-year mechanical engineering major, said students lack accessibility to financial resources, and plans to implement a monthly email and Instagram campaign to notify students of financial changes. 

All three candidates spoke of the importance of Aztecs Rock Hunger, an annual fundraising campaign to fight food insecurity, and their goal to bring in more money.

Camacho said he plans to extend the campaign to Snapdragon Stadium to “garner more support from our local community.”

Moyer said he would incentivize RSO involvement in Aztecs Rock Hunger through a promotional reward program for the organizations that collect the most funding.

Vice President of University Affairs 

Noah Abushadi-Stuart and Jhacob Blenman are the candidates running for vice president of university affairs. 

This position oversees the University Council, which connects the student body with the administration. 

Abushadi-Stuart, a third-year political science major, said that A.S. represents just a small percentage of students, citing 15% student voter turnout. He plans to implement A.S. “walkarounds” as a solution to reach students and hear their concerns, especially among underrepresented communities.

Abushadi-Stuart also wants to reshape career services to have advisors reach out directly to students. 

“Instead of them just acting, again, as an advisor, they should be our career coaches helping us grow and develop through all four years of college,” Abushadi-Stuart said.

Blenman, a third-year kinesiology major, said he also wants to improve advising resources, which he said are “limited.”

He also said he wants to work with the president to get more funding for the university and expand the number of classes available.

“This is honestly unacceptable that students can’t get into the classes that they need to graduate,” Blenman said

Debates will continue with the executive vice president and vice president of external relations positions on March 18 and the presidential debate on March 19, both hosted at the Student Union Courtyard at 12 p.m.