This year’s candidates for the Associated Students of Oregon State University presidential and vice presidential tickets voiced their thoughts and plans on issues during a debate hosted by KBVR-TV on Monday night. Elections close Feb. 28

These topics included sustainability, student wages and student fees among others.

Climate change is a looming concern in today’s day and age, especially with OSU failing to become carbon neutral by this year, despite vowing to do so in 2009. When asked about their plans to further sustainability on campus, the first ticket to answer was Eliza Eckman and Shawn Durr.

Eckman and Durr presented a fresh solution on sustainability, prioritizing new sustainability projects and are running for president and vice president respectively.

“(We want to) work with the sustainability office to kickstart a campus-wide greenhouse where people could grow food year long,” said Eckman who has been an ASOSU senator for the past 2 years.

This was followed by Durr, also anASOSU senator, who proposed an initiative for outdoor solar-powered electrical outlets that would take the electrical load off of buildings when students need to charge devices.

The second ticket to answer was Mercedez Allen, a current ASOSU senator running for president, and Shantal Andrea Velazquez who is running for vp.

In contrast to Eckman and Durr, Allen and Velazquez took the stance of expanding existing sustainability projects.

“Increasing the green bike lanes that we have near Dixon would be really nice around campus,” Allen said. “Increasing pollinator friendly species (and) lighting fixtures around campus would be really good for sustainability.”

The third ticket to answer was Kayla Ramirez and Masha Mogylevsky whose take on sustainability focused primarily on accountability.

“The university committed to being carbon neutral by 2025 and we should hold them accountable, why hasn’t that happened?” Ramirez said.

Along with accountability, Ramirez also highlighted outreach as a necessity for sustainability, “There are so many sustainable organizations on campus, we need their feedback.”

Finally, the last ticket was Lauren Camou, the current ASOSU presidential affairs officer, and Alexa Gómez Silva, a current senator.

“Something we have been actively working on for about two months now is a five-year plan,” Camou said, “to transition OSU’s Corvallis campus to 100% renewable energy.”

According to Camou, this will be achieved with a mix of steam, wind and solar power, and is already in the works with university administration.

Over the past year, student pay has been a major concern amongst the student population, amplified by the recent graduate workers strike. With student workers calling for unionization, each ticket was asked what they would do to ensure student workers made a living wage.

Eckman and Durr answered first, noting their previous work advocating for giving students a fair wage. They also noted how ASOSU has the resources to do more.

“Currently, ASOSU has almost a million dollars sitting in the bank, being unused,” Eckman said. “We think that this could be spent towards programs students want, such as increasing pay for students.”

This was followed up by Durr, who noted weaknesses in the ASOSU budget system, and that their ticket will increase accountability with ASOSU budget managers to ensure student fees are properly allocated.

Camou and Silva said they would work with university administration to raise student wages without raising fees.

Camou further acknowledged that this method would also raise ASOSU wages, but said that it is bigger than them.

Additionally, Silva proposed a plan to give student workers who work on and off campus jobs academic credits as additional compensation.

Allen and Velazquez stated their belief that students should not have to worry about work while dealing with academics, and addressed the nature of the issue.

“We recognize that student wages is kind of a nuanced issue… as much as we have the power to raise wages within fee-funded units, there are so many more students that work on this campus that deserve to be compensated fair as well,” Allen said. “If elected, I do want to revitalize former president Carissa O’Donnell’s efforts for a campus-wide minimum wage, as all students deserve fair pay.”

Finally, Ramirez and Mogylevsky, who are both endorsed by OSU student workers and grad student workers, noted their efforts in encouraging student worker unionization, championing it as the main way to make changes.

Mogylevsky also noted how student pay was raised in the past with leftover budget funds. “If we don’t prioritize students who contribute their labor we are complicit in a campus environment that engages in the exploitation of our peers,” said Ramirez.

The final major issue presented was that of program expansion, specifically ones funded by student fees. The tickets were asked how they planned to expand or add new programs to help students.

Ramirez and Mogylevsky primarily emphasized the improvement of existing programs. “It’s quality over quantity,” said Ramirez, who then listed wanting to improve various initiatives such as Saferide and free STI testing.

“Masha and I understand the importance of ensuring that these initiatives are sustainable and we would never want to put students in a position where they wouldn’t have access to these resources in the future,” Ramirez said.

Eckman and Durr highlighted making the Valley Library open 24 hours again, stating that they have already received feedback from students in support of the idea.

“In our time doing simple polls over the last couple weeks we have seen hundreds of students talk in support of a 24 hour library,” Durr said. “Having access to a library… is something we think would be beneficial.”

Furthermore, Eckman also proposed improving the quality and reducing the cost of on-campus research and internship credits, as these credits cost the same as a full class with less justification for that cost.

Camou and Silva took the position of getting students involved with the process. “The student fee is paid by the students and they should have a say on where this money is going,” Camou said.

Camou and Silva further explained that, among expanding current programs like Saferide, they wanted to continue the work of project healthy campus, an initiative started by the current ASOSU president and former VP that brought the program DAMTested, which gives students free STI testing kits.

Allen and Velazquez also stated the importance of student feedback, so that students can have a voice in where their fees are going. Allen spoke on an initiative to bring free plan B to campus, which she has already begun working on.

“We know that the C-Care may be at risk under this current administration,” Allen said, “I’ve already been working with companies to discuss how we can bring (Plan B) onto campus.” Allen also talked about an idea to find safety alternatives for students who don’t feel safe around campus security.

The ASOSU 2025-2026 ballot closes onFebruary 28. Students can check their emails for a link to the ballot form.