Student vice presidential hopefuls debate issues

K-State students and community members were able to listen to and familiarize themselves with the Student Governing Association vice presidential candidates on Tuesday in the K-State Student Union Courtyard. At the end of the speech and debate period, audience members were able to participate and ask the candidates questions.

The three vice presidential candidates are Grant Hill, junior in accounting, Michael Hampton, junior in finance, and Allison Penner, junior in microbiology. As the candidates took their respective seats on stage, the question and answer session began.

"Overall, I think it went well," Hill said. "It was a civilized debate where everyone's voice was heard. I think it was a great place for the candidates and for K-State students to be able to hear our ideas in a professional way. It was a way for the candidates and elections to become more well known."

The debate was in a question and answer format rather than an open forum. Typically, in open forum style debates, candidates are asked questions and are then allowed to answer the question and respond to other participants.

"I would have preferred an open forum style debate," Hampton said. "I really wanted to comment many different times at what other candidates were saying."

Question and answer debates can present certain challeges as candidates have to think on their feet when they are answering. Penner said that she had to often prepare her answers ahead of time, challenging her to keep her comments powerful yet succinct.

"One of the challenges I personally faced was that I really had to think ahead about what I wanted to say," Penner said. "Candidates who spoke after me said things or phrased points that I wish I could have mentioned. But I knew that everything I wanted to say, I needed to say at the beginning and get it all out there."

Hampton said this was the first debate he had been a part of. He said he thinks these debates will get better over time, but also said that he felt he raised a lot of interesting facts and points during the debate as he conveyed his passionate ideas to the students.

"It was overall a nice debate," said Tyrone Williams, senior in dance, business management and social economics. "It was a way to get to know the candidates for who they are and what they can bring to SGA if elected into office."

Even though the speakers were able to talk about the specific platforms the teams of candidates will be running on, there were still some issues when it came to thinking of answers on the spot. Hill said the most difficult part of the debate was when the candidates were asked what K-State means to them.

"I am just one person," Hill said. "I am an individual on a campus of over 24,000 students. I want to be there and be the voice for the K-State students. But I want that voice to continue to show that K-State means something different to every individual student."

Audience members were able to mingle with the candidates after the event. The presidential debates will be today in the Union Courtyard at noon.