The 2013 Student Congress Presidential Debate between Amera Fattah and Brandon Hanna was held March 5 at noon and featured discussions on parking efficiency, student commentary and free scantrons.

The debate immediately opened on the top three platforms the candidates were making.

“We’re going to do things that haven’t been addressed by the current administration,” Hanna said. “Firstly, advocating for better parking is huge. We’re pushing for a new parking structure to coincide with new housing plans coming next year.”

Hanna said another item on his agenda is to bring more career fairs to Oakland.

He also discussed the inportance of a free scantron program to students.

“When we purchase these in bulk, you actually spend less money, and one of the biggest benefits is the flow of students who will now be coming into our office to get them,” Hanna said. “They’re right there, face-to-face, and they can tell us ideas or problems they’ve been having.”

Fattah followed saying she and running mate Maria Arellano, have nine core-concepts that will benefit students, but the top three are transportation initiatives, technology advancement and student commentary.”

“Parking is going to be the biggest problem here at Oakland,” Fattah said. “An answer to that is that we’re going to establish a transportation department.”

She added that the two are pushing for technology advancement, which is simplifying resources at Oakland.

Fattah also hopes to better marketing through technology — make easier research tools through Oakland, and have a smart-phone app for the Bear Bus.”

Coming to a close

The debate ended by asking the candidates to give closing statements on how, if elected, they will improve OU.

“We bring a sense of experience to the job,” Hanna said. “We’re working across departments, we’re working across various deans and we’re working across several groups organizations to bring about the change we need.”

Fattah said that it is all about working together.

“It’s about coming up with a plan, and it’s about connecting with people,” she said. “That’s the solid foundation we built our platform on. That’s what got us here.”