free
MONDAY
april 3, 2017 high 64°, low 48°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
N • Changes looming
President Donald Trump has proposed significant reductions to federal work-study programs, something that could have an impact at Syracuse University. Page 3
P • Rap for a cause
Mahkai Bailey has rapped at the United Nations for children’s causes. The whole time, his father, Freedom-Allah, stood by his side as a mentor and friend. Page 9
dailyorange.com
S • Leading role
Marcus Cunningham had the biggest stop of the game for Syracuse in Saturday’s win over top-ranked Notre Dame and took hold of his spot in the rotation. Page 16
SA presidential candidates square off at debate
TYLER ROSSI (LEFT) AND JAMES FRANCO (RIGHT), both presidential candidates for Student Association, participated in a debate hosted by The Daily Orange and CitrusTV Sunday evening in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium inside Newhouse 3. colin davy asst. photo editor
Candidates clash over ‘sanctuary campus’ issue, vice presidents but find common ground elsewhere By Delaney Van Wey asst. news editor
The presidential candidates for the Student Association’s 61st session clashed at a debate on Sunday night, at some points even seeming to shock the audience with the contentious nature. James Franco and Tyler Rossi, along with their respective candidates for vice president, took the stage in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium and fielded questions about Syracuse University’s “sanctuary campus” status and health and safety issues, among other things. Though the vice presidential candidates did not participate in the debate, they spoke during the opening statements. Rossi sparked a visible reaction
from the crowd twice during the evening, first for his opinions about sanctuary campuses and then for a comment about Angie Pati, Franco’s vice presidential candidate. When asked for their opinions about sanctuary campuses, Franco said he was in favor of the designation — he was involved in creating the SA bill that declared the student organization’s support for designating SU a sanctuary campus. SU has so far not declared itself a sanctuary campus. Rossi was openly against the designation and blamed Franco for what he called a failed SA bill. He said he still supported helping undocumented students in “legal” ways. “Becoming a sanctuary campus makes us less safe,” Rossi said. “Not
only does it put us on the radar, not only does it put us on the map as a target, but all federal dollars given to this university, to you, me and everyone else alike, are in jeopardy. And I feel this was a huge mistake and a huge failure, honestly, of James and the current SA administration to be transparent about this.” Franco said Rossi’s statement showed a lack of understanding about the designation. He said that an SA president could not be representative of all students if they aren’t supportive of the needs of those affected by the current national administration’s travel bans and immigration policies. The two also clashed over a discussion about their vice presidents. After
talking about the roles their respective vice presidents would play in the administration — which they both said would be large ones — Rossi said, “Roy has real experience. Angie does not.” He continued to say that Pati did have important experience on campus, but his running mate, Roy Tin, had strong outside experience from working at Goldman Sachs as an intern. This drew a sharp rebuke from Franco, who told Rossi to never talk negatively about Pati, which elicited applause from some in the audience. He fired back that experience at an investment firm would not help students or SA. In an interview after the debate, Rossi said he apologized to Pati for his see debate page 4
Audience members react to issues discussed during debate, provide thoughts on upcoming election By Jordan Muller and William Muoio staff writers
During Sunday night’s Student Association presidential debate, candidates James Franco and Tyler Rossi discussed SA’s “sanctuary campus” bill, mental health and SU community outreach in the city, among other topics. The Daily Orange spoke with students following the debate to get their thoughts on the upcoming SA elections and the debate. The Daily Orange: What will
candidates still have to prove in the coming weeks?
Colin Spaulding, sophomore mechanical engineering major: How well they can relate to the students. That’s really the big thing. … Connecting with the students because a lot of people are unaware of what SA does. I think that’s their goal. The D.O.: What was the most important issue discussed at the debate?
Kristen Unangst, junior finance and supply chain management dual major: I
thought the sanctuary campus was a
really important question because it did address something that’s a global issue as well as an issue campuswide, and so feelings about that I thought were really telling. The D.O.: Was there anything you would’ve liked to hear from the candidates that you didn’t hear?
Kiara Bunting, junior advertising major: (Rossi) talked a lot
about diversity, but he really only talked about it in the sense of he and his vice-presidential candidate. So I’d like to see how they plan on incorporating that into the whole community of Syracuse because
they don’t represent the whole community. Two people just can’t represent an entire Syracuse community. (Franco) and (Angie Pati) have talked to me about how they plan on incorporating the opinions and the ideas of a diverse group of people in the community and it’s very tangible. They want to work with different organizations and they have such clear ideas on how they want to do that, and I just wasn’t sure that (Rossi and Roy Tin) did. The D.O.: Why should students care about the SA election? see reactions page 4