A heavily-moderated debate marked the first official exchange between the remaining Government of the Student Body presidential candidates.

Ryan Crampton, current GSB senator and junior in political science, and Jeff Edwards, senior in finance, took the stage first in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union Wednesday night, delivering their campaign goals and voicing the issues they feel pertain most to GSB and Iowa State’s student body.

The three main issues Crampton and Edwards want to have ironed out as GSB president and vice president are effective communication between GSB and the student body, enhancing “the Cyclone experience” and enabling the students.

After Crampton and Edwards made their platform clear, the floor went to the second pair of candidates, Daniel Fischer, senior in agricultural business, and Maggie Luttrell, City Council liaison and senior in history.

Fischer and Luttrell rolled out their campaign, stating they would focus on affordable tuition, accountable leadership and attainable results.

After both sides concluded their initial statements, Election Commissioner Alden Peterson, junior in mechanical engineering, began a question-and-answer session in which he lobbed questions to the candidates.

Questions regarding issues such as finances, priorities, current problems, experience, increased involvement and taking advantage of Iowa State’s media sources were all answered in differing fashion by both candidate pairs.

On the topic of finances, Peterson asked both sides what their first actions would be if given $1,000.

“I would walk around campus and make people’s days by just handing it out,” Edwards said.

After Edwards’ light-hearted comment, which later drew scrutiny from current GSB senator Tom Danielson, senior in civil engineering, as “all candy and lollipops,” Fischer countered with a financial statement of his own.

“We would invest that money in something where we could actually use it,” Fischer said. “I know one of our interests is representing all different kinds of students.”

Throughout the debate, a fewstatements that reverberated on both sides.

Fischer and Luttrell put a strong emphasis on their previous work experience and their records on governmental bodies ranging from the Iowa General Assembly to the Memorial Union Board of Directors to the Ames City Council.

On the other side of the debate, Crampton and Edwards spoke about the potential of GSB.

“We believe that GSB can go to a whole other level,” Crampton said.

During a counter-argument regarding the importance of the GSB executive board, Crampton said the main ingredient to success doesn’t lie within the presidential or vice presidential positions.

“We could have the best executive branch in the world, but unless we have students who are involved and engaged and interested in what GSB is doing and where our university is going, as a whole, there really is no point for GSB,” he said.

A debate will take place next Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the M-Shop of the Memorial Union.