In a last minute effort, the three slates running for Government of the Student Body president and vice president positions told a crowd of about 30 students Friday afternoon why they should be chosen as the new GSB executives.

Both slates who will appear on the ballot, John Hamilton and Amy Robertson, and Bryan Burkhardt and Jamal White, participated in the debate, as well as write-in candidates Chris Wisher and Jennifer Johnson.

The moderator asked the candidates five questions, three of which were directed at the full slate, one at the vice presidential candidates and one at the presidential candidates.

Each question was given three minutes of response time per candidate; each candidate had two minutes to respond to each question and the others were given 30 seconds to rebut.

The first question was “What will you do to ensure that Veishea will continue to be a successful event in the future?”

All of the candidates took similar stances on the issue — wanting to continue it and make it an alcohol-free event.

Both Hamilton and Robertson are on the Veishea executive board and are “working to make sure it runs successfully,” Hamilton said. They plan to use GSB as a means of communication.

“GSB should be assisting in Veishea but not telling the committee what to do,” Hamilton said.

Burkhardt and White want to see changes in Veishea and “return Veishea to a showcase of Iowa State,” Burkhardt said.

They said the party and entertainment environment is great, but it is not what the purpose of Veishea should be.

Wisher and Johnson said they have looked into many programs with the residence halls. “Our main goal is to promote non-alcoholic events,” Wisher said.

He mentioned a multi-activity Towers Residence Association extravaganza outside the scope of Veishea and moving Taste of Veishea away from the bars.

The second question of the debate was “How would you work with the faculty senate on teacher evaluations and budget allocations?”

Wisher and Johnson’s main idea was implementing programs such as higher teacher evaluations and English standards.

Burkhardt and White said GSB is working with the faculty senate on evaluations and will continue in the future.

“We take a different stance with mid-semester evaluations. We want to take the evaluations and let the students gain from them while still in the course,” Burkhardt said.

Hamilton and Robertson said they are also in support of evaluations at mid-semester, but they want to allow students to see evaluations when they register.

This would enable the student to choose the professor with the teaching style that best suits that student.

Wisher and Johnson support the idea as well, but said the evaluations need to be improved and taken more seriously.

The third question was directed to the vice presidential candidates, asking “What is GSB’s role in promoting multiculturalism on campus?”

“GSB should make an active effort to promote multiculturalism,” White said. Discussion about adding a multicultural senator has often come up, and he said he supports that position. “Our cabinet should work with other organizations and take every group into account,” he said.

Robertson said multiculturalism is a major issue on campus. “GSB’s role is very important,” she said. “We need to go out to student groups to find out what they want.”

Johnson also said GSB plays an important role, and she wants everyone to remember that its purpose is to educate students on various cultures and serve all students from all cultures.

The candidates all said the recent bill passed recognizing George Washington Carver was a way GSB has encouraged multiculturalism.

The fourth question was directed toward the presidential candidates, asking “What GSB cabinet events have you attended and how would you improve the events?”

Wisher said he attended the Campus Olympics, but he said he has been too busy to attend many of the events.

Hamilton also said he has been really busy and involved in many things, and most of his time has been focused on being a senator.

Burkhardt had a slightly different response.

“I take my position on GSB seriously,” he said.

He attended the Welcome Week concert, the Welcomefest, the Campus Olympics and the Think Tank discussion on a multicultural center.

The last question asked was “What have you done personally to promote diversity this year?”

Hamilton said he has supported the multicultural center, but Robertson said she has not had the opportunity to be on GSB yet.

“I have attended forums to discuss a multicultural center and have done a lot of brainstorming and talking to people,” she said.

Burkhardt said he has supported many of the multicultural and diversity issues this year, such as the George Washington Carver bill and the Safe Zones bill.

White had his name on the George Washington Carver and Safe Zones bills and said he always supported minority seats, international seats and specialty seats on the senate.

“I am a member of the Black Student Alliance, and I am on the Martin Luther King Planning Committee,” he said.

Wisher had a different view on diversity. “Diversity is not a word we’d like to support,” he said. “We support unity.”

He was against the Safe Zones and wrote his own George Washington Carver bill that did not stress the fact that Carver was black. “We have to move beyond the issues that divide the country.”

Johnson agreed with her running mate. “All of us are individuals, but we all work together as one to accomplish things,” she said.

“There is a lot of diversity on campus and we all have differences, but we all came here to get an education. That is most important.”

Burkhardt rebutted Wisher saying he didn’t explain the question. “Diversity is not about pointing out differences but finding similarities,” he said.

After the formal questions were answered, the floor was opened for questions, followed by closing statements by the candidates.

Hamilton said he and Robertson’s main strength was their experience.

“I have made mistakes, but that’s good. I now know what does and does not work,” he said.

Burkhardt also emphasized he and White’s experience. He said he has noticed that some students feel all the candidates have the same platform.

“It is not the case that all candidates represent the same things,” he said.

White backed up his running mate.

“Implementing ideas is a point of everybody’s platform,” he said. “No one just collects data.”

Wisher’s statement ended the debate. He pointed out that all the candidates have extensive experience. “The main point that separates us is that we will do more than listen. We will implement the programs.”

After the debate, Rob Wiese, GSB president, had some harsh words.

“It makes me very angry when candidates use my cabinet success to promote themselves,” he said, referring to Wisher. “The policies of GSB elections make me very angry.”

Wiese encouraged students to go out and make a smart decision.

“All of the [presidential candidates] were senators, but only a few actually did their jobs,” he said.