Student reactions to the Presidential Debate

Ethan D’Mello
Mechatronics, Engineering and Management III
Did you feel like it changed your opinion?
Yes, it definitely did. I got to see who the candidates were in terms of personality, I got to see how they act under pressure. It was good to see how they interact with other candidates. I got more informed about their ideas. Before, they would tell me about their ideas and I was like “oh that’s good” but now after seeing rebuttals from everybody I have more of an idea of what’s feasible, and that’s really going to affect my decision.

Favourite?
I’m a strong supporter of Jama, right now. I could see the passion in her answers, and that’s what I want in a leader. They’ll do what it takes to get it done.

Did you come in with someone in mind?
I had nobody until now. Before the week I just met everybody and got to know their ideas.

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Daniel Tuba D’Souza
Biochemistry III
Personally I prefer to read platforms and see on paper what the individuals have thought out and their plans. I think debates are good because you really get to see the individuals on their feet and how they respond to each other, but at the same time, there are some individuals who may not be as good at public speaking and because of that some of their platform points, or their ideas and their ambition or the things they can accomplish for the school do get drowned out. I think that’s a little bit sad to see. But I think that it is good to have this visual out here, it draws people out, it gets their attention, especially the main points. Students should go further and research platform points to see if some of the statements candidates are making are backed up and if the are valid and what they really connect to on that level.

I base my own voting on the platforms themselves… It was more entertaining to see them fire at each other.

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Brian Zheng
Kinesiology II
Not really. I think generally with debates like this, often times depending on the popularity of yourself and your public speaking skills it heavily influences how people respond to your arguments and debates. Oftentimes people just come up with buzzwords and end off with a really strong tone and attempt to get people really rallied up and none of their points are really backed up. I think everyone covers it up with really fuzzy words and it’s not backed up… it’s unfortunate that some, like Justin, his points were really good but he’s not as good a public speaker as others, and some of his points get covered up. Some people are just louder than others; some just have bigger teams than others.

I don’t really have a favourite. I think there are obvious leads… but I don’t really have a favourite at all.

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Labika Ghani
Commerce I
After watching the debate I really got to understand the candidates and what they believe and their stance and everything, and I feel that I’m more informed about their candidates and their platforms. I know who I’m voting for: Mike Gill.

I think he did a really good job at explaining why he was running for MSU president and what he can accomplish and help students with.

I know all of them, besides Toni and Devante, so I did have a pretty un-bias perspective before coming in. Sarah, Justin and Mike, I know all of them, so I wanted to make sure I had an unbiased perspective and get to see their platforms. But I did read their platforms before coming to the debate.

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Nada El Naiem
CSMM II
I didn’t watch the full debate because I had class for an hour.

I found the debate was very informative. There was one question that asked about their views on other peoples platform points, which was good, because you got to see if they actually know about other platform points and if they did their research. Because were supposed to be informed as voters, and I believe that they should also be informed, so it’s nice to know that they also asked questions apart from their own platform points so we can see how they view other points that they might not mention.

I don’t think I have a favourite. I still want to read more about their platform points and visit each table. Also I’m a community advisor, so I’m not allowed to endorse a certain person.

When Mike Gill got rallied up, I’m not sure how he meant to come across, but I know the audience was taken aback. He was defending his 38 platform points, because that was attacked, and he said “I think you should have big goals as MSU president, and if you want to aim low,” not quite sure what the exact quote was, “if you don’t really want much of a change, re-elect Ehima,” I think that was really unprofessional and made a lot of people feel uncomfortable.

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Photos taken by: Jon White/Photo Editor