USG tickets meet minority groups

Candidates for Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president faced some of the toughest questions of their campaigns last night.

The six ballot candidates introduced themselves, some for the first time, to members of Black Caucus, the University chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Caribbean Students Association, at a meeting in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. The two write-in tickets, Matt Lohr and B.J. Werzyn; and Kornelius P. Spankum and Kendra Ciesla, were not in attendance.

"I am offended by all of your presentations with the exception of one group of you," said Kesha Faison (senior-sociology), a member of Black Caucus. "If you really had some sensitivity, you would have gone out and talked to us before you made your platforms."

Faison added that she was speaking personally, and not for all black students, when she asked candidates to rethink the issues they stress.

Members of each ticket responded to questions about their concern for issues facing the black student community.

Caroline Casagrande and Brian Olivo

"I've taken it upon myself to work on multicultural issues already," Casagrande said, referring to her work to incorporate multicultural freshman seminars into the general education requirements. Olivo was not in attendance.

Mario Ciabarra and Allison Szabaga

"I'm not a minority, and neither is Mario, and we can't pretend that we are," Szabaga said, but she added that this would not be the last time they saw her at a meeting. Ciabarra was not in attendance.

Roshani Herath and Christine Muchi

"This is not about one night," Herath said, adding that supporting student organizations like Black Caucus is vital to the campus and more important than campaign platforms.

Rocco Impreveduto and Marc Nathan

"If you look at our platform, we've been actually calling for more representation," Impreveduto said, pointing out that many groups are extremely underrepresented.

Todd Krout and Karen Skomorucha

"We don't know what your concerns are, but we want to hear your concerns," Krout said, adding that he plans to attend more meetings.

Andrea Prinzi and J. P. Jaworski

"I do want to be a part of these events," Prinzi said. "As your USG president, I'm going to be here." Jaworski was not in attendance.

The two write-in tickets, Matt Lohr and B.J. Werzyn; and Kornelius P. Spankum and Kendra Ciesla, were not in attendance.