Huntington News

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News

About 100 students gathered at Curry Student Center's West Addition to hear Student Government Association (SGA) presidential hopefuls Rob Ranley and Marines Piney kick off their campaigns with the first debate of the season last Thursday night.

The debate was sponsored by The News and monitored by Rosa Rodriguez Williams, director of the Latino/a Cultural Student Center. The candidates answered a selection of questions pre-submitted by students online, and each candidate opened and closed the debate with a prepared statement. There was also a period of open questions from the audience.

Ranley, current SGA vice president for financial affairs, won the coin-toss determining which candidate would speak first. He opened the debate with a speech outlining the experience that makes him a viable candidate, including his status as a rising senior and his role in SGA and the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
"I feel the greatest asset I can bring to this presidency is my experience," he said. 

Piney, current SGA vice president for student affairs, followed with a different approach, quoting US President John Quincy Adams and telling the audience about the decision-making process that led her to choose Northeastern and become involved in SGA.

"I love helping people," she said. "I like advocating for students and the entire student body, which is why I joined SGA."
Questions ranged from the challenges previous SGA administrations faced and how candidates would deal with conflict of interest issues to how each candidate would best represent students.

The candidates, who serve together on the SGA executive board, found little to disagree about. Piney said she agreed with Ranley five times, and waived two of her opportunities for rebuttle. Ranley said he agreed with Piney on three occasions.
 After about 40 minutes of the preselected questions, audience members were given the opportunity to ask the candidates questions.

Former SGA vice president for administration and public relations Krystal Beaulieau asked the candidates to name a time when, during the past year, they disagreed with each other on an issue. Ranley did not name a specific instance, and Piney was hard-pressed to think of a time when they were not in agreement.

"I can't recall any time when I've disagreed with Rob," she said. "I'm going to be completely honest, I really don't think we've ever disagreed on anything."

Current SGA president Joey Fiore was absent from the debate. Though he did not did not offer a reason for not attending, he does plan to attend future debates, he said.

"I have 100 percent confidence in the candidates right now and I don't feel the need to watch over them like a hawk," he said. "I do expect to be at the next debates and I look forward to an energetic campaign season."

Campaigning will continue until April 1, when voting on myNEU begins. Voting will end April 6. The second debate hosted by The News will be March 24 at the Fenway Center at 7:30 p.m.

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