by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
Candidates vying to be ASUNM president presented their platforms Monday in the SUB Atrium.
NMPIRG's student chapter sponsored the debate, and KUNM reporter and producer Danny Hernandez moderated.
The elections will be held online Wednesday.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Ashley Fate, who is running on the REACH slate, said one of her goals is increasing safety on campus, including putting lights on Johnson Field.
"I feel it is a really important initiative because we've been promising to put lights on Johnson Field for as long as I've been here," she said.
ASUNM received funding from the Legislature this year to install the lights, after trying to get them for about seven years.
Brittany Jaeger, president of ASUNM, has said she expects the lights to be up for the fall semester.
Fate said UNM needs about $20,000 more for the project.
Fate said she is qualified to be ASUNM president because she is a two-term senator, a member of the Student Fee Review Board and chairwoman of the Finance Committee.
Fate said she wants to increase communication on campus through public forums.
Fate, a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, said her involvement in Greek life won't affect her decisions as president.
"Being Greek has really enlightened my experiences," she said. "As finance chair, I have to look at organizations that I might be affiliated with and be able to detach myself. It's taught me how to separate the business from the personal."
Katryn Fraher, who is running on the PAC slate, said she has no experience in ASUNM, but she said she has interacted with the organization as the former director of NMPIRG's student chapter for the last two years.
Fraher said she is qualified to be the president of ASUNM because she can connect with students as a result of the training and skills she received with NMPIRG.
"My experience is with students at UNM, which is who ASUNM is supposed to be representing," she said. "Instead of ASUNM using their power divvying up money amongst student organizations, I want ASUNM's power to actually represent all students at UNM and bring our issues to the state and national level."
Fraher said she was unhappy with the $975,000-a-year salary for men's basketball coach Steve Alford.
Fraher said more money should be used to fund student groups.
"It pisses me off that he's getting $1 million," she said. "I know a lot of the money is coming from outside funding sources, but why aren't more outside sources funding student groups and organizations?"
Louis Jeantete, who is running on the KEY slate, said he is qualified because of his experience over the summer as an intern in Washington, D.C., for Sen. Pete Domenici.
Jeantete said being chairman of ASUNM's Outreach and Appointments Committee also prepared him to lead the association.
Jeantete said one of his main goals is to use technology to improve communication on campus.
"We want to develop a communications student service agency, utilizing iTunes, podcasting and videocasting to create an overall sense of community here at the University," he said.
Jeantete said he wants to increase students' career opportunities through new internship programs.
"We want to enhance leadership opportunities and career success networks," he said. "With that, we would like to create an ASUNM internship program to not only network student leaders with one another, but with all students."
The presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates will participate in another debate today at 11 a.m. in the SUB.
