Candidates pitched their positions for the ASWSU presidency at the debate on Sunday.

The tickets running for the presidency are listed as follows: Taylor Christenson with running mate Kyle Strachila, Zak Cherif with running mate Sebatian Kalilikane and Victoria-Pearl Young with running mate Sam Horowitz.

All candidates said they support an expansion free speech zones on campus. Cherif said there should be some accountability if they are taken down.

Regarding tuition and fees, Christenson and Strachila support transparency of where every fee is going. Strachila brought up the student technology bill as an example and said the student body has not seen how it has been fulfilled.

The only solid payments of student fees that can be seen are for textbooks, Cherif said. He said they want to find out about the payments students are unknowingly making and what they are going toward. Kalilikane said the only student fees and bills that will be supported are ones that benefit and do not hinder student success.

Regarding campus facilities and residence life, Horowitz said facility costs and payments should be equal to what the residence is worth, as students overpay for certain residences that are not equal in quality.

When discussing the issue of sexual assault on campus, Cherif said survivors need to be told it is not their fault and a conversation on sexual assault needs to be started at the university. Bystanders should also be empowered and educated on how sexual assault can be prevented, Cherif said.

Young said she and Horowitz have been working with others to create ideas on how to address sexual assault, as one in 16 men and one in five women on a college campus are sexually assaulted.

Young also said she and Horowitz want to create a safe location for people to go to if they need help.

Christenson said sexual assault is a hard conversation that needs to be had and she wants to bring men into the conversation as well as women. Christenson said students need easier access to prevention methods, as Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse prevention center is running out of funding in 2017.

All candidates said they want to increase awareness of the use of hard drugs such as cocaine and Adderall. Christenson and Strachila said they want to reform “Booze, Sex and Reality Checks,” to better inform students on hard drugs.

When the new president of WSU is elected, Young said she, as president of ASWSU, wants to share perspectives with the president, as various groups on campus are being represented. Christenson said she wants ASWSU to be the first ones to welcome the newly elected president.

Kalilikane said he and Cherif want to give the president a reason to stay at WSU and establish a close relationship with them.

“I want to be best friends with them,” Cherif said.

In light of the recent resignation of ASWSU senators and President Adam Crouch, all candidates said they cannot make a promise to stay on as president or that no one else will resign no matter what, as life and personal struggles come up. However, all candidates said they would make sure qualified replacements are chosen.

“Personal reasons are personal reasons,” Christenson said.

When their presidency has concluded, Cherif said he and Kalilikane will have set the right tone for ASWSU. To no one’s fault, the current system is broken, Cherif said, wanting to make changes in ASWSU to which all aspects of the university are unified.

Young said every aspect of WSU will be closer to the same level upon her and Horowitz leaving office.

“We will see so much more common ground on this campus than ever before,” she said.

Believing the foundation for WSU has already been set, Strachila said he and Christenson want to put the pieces of the puzzle together and make sure ASWSU runs more efficiently.