Debates wrap up with final two face offs

The first Undergraduate Assembly debate season came to a close Sunday night when The Daily Pennsylvanian and the Undergraduate Assembly hosted the final two debates.

During the DP debate, the two presidential candidates — Matt Amalfitano and Grant Dubler — and three vice presidential candidates — Faye Cheng, Mark Pan and Emily Shaeffer — addressed issues surrounding the student experience.

Amalfitano, a College junior, insisted that the undergraduate curriculum should be more flexible overall. “Not everyone should have to take geology,” he said.

Dubler, a College junior, advocated a more user-friendly online registration process.

All candidates supported integrating sports teams with the whole community. The UA, according to Dubler, must help “build school spirit from the bottom up.”

All five candidates also addressed Greek life on campus. A pressing concern, Amalfitano said, is increasing safety by reducing the wet-dry ratio of parties.

While Dubler explained that making Greek life safer is important, he held that non-Greek students should have more options. “Penn PM programming is not enough,” he said.

At the UA-hosted debate, Amalfitano and Dubler spoke about the president’s relationship with the rest of the UA body.

“The president should set the agenda, and the speaker should make sure all perspectives are heard,” Dubler said.

The role of the speaker, according to Amalfitano, is to create UA unity to allow the president to reach the community.

Dubler said having a relevant agenda is key to reaching the student body. Amalfitano, on the other hand, said, “When you’re doing the right work, students will find out.”

With the debates completed, Commission on Presidential Debates Chairwoman and College senior Natalie Vernon said the process was a success overall.

“In the old system, these discussions would never even happen,” she said.

Still, the Commission plans to make several alterations to the debate structure next year.

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