Changes in the Department of Residence, the residence halls and the Inter-Residence Hall Association next semester prompted much discussion among the IRHA presidential and vice-presidential candidates during their first debate.

Slates for the upcoming IRHA presidential elections debated Monday night what they will accomplish if they are elected on April 4. The candidates focused on what they would like to see done differently next semester.

The slates running for the elections are Jeff Greiner, sophomore in history, for president and Paul Duncan, sophomore in transportation and logistics, for vice president; Luke Howell, junior in political science, and Aaron Schmidt, senior in computer engineering; and Tom Plagge, junior in computer engineering, and Chris Benson, junior in animal science.

Members of the IRHA Election Committee, parliament members and dorm residents posed questions to the candidates.

Greiner, who is the current IRHA vice president, said he has already been working on ideas that he would like to implement if he is elected president.

“One of the things I would like to see changed is to have a direct link of communication from the executive positions to the students so there is less distortion in between,” Greiner said.

Duncan, who is the IRHA director of Finance, said his main concern for next year is Hawthorn Court and whether those residents will chose to be a part of IRHA. He said it is imperative that IRHA parliament encourages Hawthorn residents to stay involved and have a voice.

“I would like to integrate [Hawthorn Court] with IRHA. I think it’s our responsibility to have a big invitation towards them [to join],” Duncan said.

Howell addressed his concerns about the relationship between the Government of the Student Body and IRHA. He said IRHA seemed to serve under GSB because of its limited representation of students.

“Basically, there is a co-relationship with GSB and IRHA,” Howell said. “GSB seems to be the most governing body over the residence halls and university. IRHA represents just the residence halls, but I could see IRHA and GSB working together in the future years.”

Howell’s running mate Schmidt said one concept that his slate would bring to IRHA is to have students be able to rate the Department of Residence’s services.

“We’d bring accountability of the DOR to the students that live in the residence halls,” Schmidt said. “I think it is important for the students to evaluate their services like maintenance and food service.”

Currently serving as the Richardson Court Association at-large representative, Plagge said IRHA has been working in the right direction, but he would like to see some internal changes in IRHA.

“We need to restructure cabinet positions,” Plagge said. “I think in order for IRHA to grow, we need to bring the students together.”

When asked about the future of Veishea, Benson, Birch-Welch-Roberts representative, said the event needed to be promoted more effectively in the residence halls.

“We need to push [the subject] in the residence halls so it can continue. I think just by knowing what the events are would be a great thing. I would also like to see houses, like Noble House [in Friley], that do a float each year,” Benson said.

Plagge asked Howell and Schmidt if their lack of experience on IRHA would have an effect on their leadership abilities. Both pointed to their positions in the RCA senate and as resident advisers in Larch Hall.

“My involvement has covered my bases as student government involvement. Everything that IRHA has proposed in a bill has came up in RCA,” Howell said.