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Show )' r rl j STUDENT GCYERNMENT , t JIS0 j - ADMINISTRATION r? iN CARLY POTH STAFF REPORTER I 4 ) i ? v i i ,x f f 1 i i 4 V f r te i i X f 'j -- t tyf 1 1 . r i &rc 1 I f 3 t ' 1 "V. CREDIT Smythe Eddy Student Body President Kailey Kom- hauser welcomes audience members as they write questions for the candidates. I The debate took place on Oct. 3 between i House candidates Joel Briscoe and Gor- don Lund Gurr and Senate candidates Jim Dabakis and Jacquie Nielsen. i On Oct 6, candidates from the Senate District 2 and the House District 25 debated for 90 minutes at Westminster College for its first-evSugar House candidate debate. Republican Jacquie Nielson and Democrat Jim Dabakis represented Senate District 2 and Democrat Joel Briscoe and Republican Gordon Lund Gurr represented the House District 25. Before the event, the audience was given the opportunity to write down questions for the candidates to answer during the debate. The Vieve Gore Concert Hall fell silent as the debate moderators Kailey Komhauser, ASWC president, and Bryce Christensen, chairman of the Utah Federation of College Republicans, started the dock. From here on out every candidate would be given three minutes to respond to questions. er IMMIGRATION The first debate question was directed towards the Senate District 2, asking how the candidates felt about immigration laws. My husband is a legal immigrant, Nielson said. But illegal immigrants are living in a shadow life style. She said that it isnt right for undocumented aliens to receive benefits, and a reform should be considered to fix the problem. Dabakis said that there was no pinpoint answer to immigra- tion. We are telling immigrants, dont come, Dabakis said. But then saying come, come, come. We created this political situation, so to remove everyone is morally unjust He said that a lot of the time people that immigrate here are too young to remember where they came from. He referred to these immigrants as Utah dreamers, and said he thinks we should give them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. Nielson replied quickly saying, I dont think we should be offering amnesty, the bill is compassionate and doesnt protect citizens. She said that we could start to solve the problem with better security. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION The next debate question was directed towards House District 25, asking the candidates what they think about Utahs public transportation. My daughter takes the bus to school and work, said Joel Briscoe. Most days she has to wait 40 minutes for the bus to pick her up and take her home. He said that most people arent going to want to wait that long to get a ride, and that we need to motivate people to use public transit to decrease emissions. Gordon Lund Gurr argued that too much of taxpayers money goes to the Utah Transit Association (UTA) when it could be used more efficiently. UTA employees are paid more than those in large cities like Chicago or New York, Gurr said. He then explained how Briscoe recently passed a bill to increase taxes for public transportation. Briscoe explained that the tax increase would be used strictly for buses. He said, More buses means less wait- mg. EDUCATION Next, the moderators asked the Senate District 2 representatives how we could improve our education. The state of Utah is in a catastrophe with education, Dabakis said. 120 million dollars a year is not going to education in the state of Utah, instead it is going to funders and lobbyists. Nielson disagreed and said, Money is not the big issue. She said that it is important for parents, teachers, and students to have a relationship, and that when these relationships dont exist we see a decrease in the quality of education. Dabakis argued that the state legislature is responsible, He not uninvolved parents. said underfunding the education system is what leads to poor education. It is not our job to make sure the Huntsmans and Romneys are taken care of, Dabakis said. Nielson said, If it is legislatures, then what have you been doing for the past two years as a member of the state legislature? The debate also consisted of panel questions that gave all four candidates three minutes to express their opinion. AIR QUALITY The first panel question asked candidates what they thought was the most important action to be taken to improve air quality. We need to make it more desirable to not drive, Nielson said. She said that automobiles and trucks are the problem and that by discovering ways to make UTA and Trax more appealing we could improve air quality. Gurr agreed that automobiles and trucks are the problem but added that the UTA is putting off a lot of construction projects causing more traffic. We need full lanes to of get rid congestion, Gurr said. Dabakis said the problem has to do with philosophy, If Clean Air Utah gives us bad representatives, who is responsible? Dabakis said, It isnt just companies who are responsible, it is also our state being foolish. He said that the best air quality Utah has had only fulfills the nations lowest air quality requirements. Sounds like a recipe for dirty air to me, Dabakis said. He said we should set higher expectations for our state. Briscoe agreed by saying we need to think about accountability but said that the solution was to focus on using natural gas. Long term population growth is real, Briscoe said. Does every house really need a three car garage? FOR MORE INFO To watch the full debate visit the ASWC website at http: www.myaswc.com For further questions, you can contact candidates at the foladdresses. lowing ail Joel Briscoe: gordongurrhotmail.com Jim Dabakis: jdabakisle.utah.gov Gordon Lund Gurr: gordongurrhotmail.com Jacquie Nielson: http:jacquienielsencom.nationbuilder.comcontactus - The debate was by Westminster College, the Sugar House Chamber of Commerce, the Sugar House Community Council and the New York Times. |