Engineering and computer science contenders Aditya Singh and Stephen Li split hairs cordially over recycling, school spirit and budget issues.

Aditya, a junior engineering major, and Li, a junior civil engineer major, are proponents of expanding recycling on campus.

‘Recycling is not just about life here on campus, it is about life in the world,’ said Li.

Li said that he would like to see more recycling bins scattered around campus.

The debated heated up when the issue of school spirit arose.

The candidates disagreed on whether the Big Show, featuring Ludacris, increased school spirit.

While Li supported the event, he said that he didn’t think that it increased school spirit.

The event cost $120,000 and Li said the high price tag was due to poor planning.

‘They need to get a less known band and that will keep the budget down,’ he said.

Aditya supported the concert and said it definitely increased school spirit. He agreed with Li and said the budget on the event needs to be kept in check.

Again, barely splitting the difference, Aditya and Li addressed campus safety. Both agreed that the safety patrol provided by A.S should be expanded.

‘Perhaps we could recruit volunteers for the safety patrol and offer an incentive in return such as priority registration,’ said Li.

The next lukewarm debate was between the candidates vying for the College of Health and Human Development seat.

If elected Eboni Blanche, Armand Ohanian and Jose Trujillo all said they would like to serve a full year in the senate.

However, they had different opinions when asked hypothetically how to solve CSUN’s budget issues.

Blanche, a junior public health education major, said she would raise tuition.

‘You can’t put a price on education,’ she said.

Ohanian and Trujillo said they would cut programs and services.

The three disagreed again on the topic of recycling.

While Blanche and Ohanian agreed that it campus recycling needed to be expanded, Trujillo said it was not a top priority.

‘I would like to see recycling bins at sports events,’ said Ohanian, a senior kinesiology major.

Ohanian and Trujillo agreed that school spirit begins with sports and could be developed through promoting various sporting events.

‘I would like to see pep rallies outside the library,’ said Trujillo.

All agreed that the challenges of overcoming the lack of school spirit at CSUN would be a huge undertaking.

Blanche said she would start by attempting to more effectively promote events such as Matador Tuesday; a day when everyone is encouraged to wear school colors.