Student Government Association presidential candidates met Monday to debate issues they will focus on if elected. The first prompt issued to the presidential hopefuls questioned the past, not the future.
Vote Bare's Matt Bare and U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative's Betsy Mills were given two minutes to respond to the challenge: What part of current SGA slate Team Lisec's platforms do they consider most important to continue?
In possibly the most distinctly different responses of the debate, Bare and Mills responded with separate priorities. Bare said he wanted to focus on continuing and creating new shuttle routes and cooperative efforts between Muncie and Ball State University. Mills, meanwhile, spoke of her continued support for the proposed Atrium news ticker and information screens.
Regardless of which slate you agree with, the prompt brings a daunting and often overlooked challenge to the table: continuity.
As important as initiatives for new projects and ideas are, it's in the interest of SGA's continued success for candidates to remember platform ideas of past administrations.
Working on original ideas is an important aspect of both slates' platforms. For example, Ruckus would not be around if Team Lisec had not followed it through from Steve Geraci's Team US platform.
It wasn't an item Team Lisec necessarily campaigned on, but it was still a task that had to be completed when the slate took office last spring. Similar responsibilities will fall to Team Lisec's successor when it takes office, and it's important these efforts are seen through to completion.
If slates are content on pushing their initiatives and fresh ideas, candidates need to focus on the objectives that define each slate, not the multiple platform issues that make them similar.
Both Vote Bare and U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative have the opportunity to promote the original ideas that could sway students' votes, but candidates must not lose sight of the goals their predecessors have established.
Although new visions are important, it's vital that presidential hopefuls continue the foresights of administrations past.
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