In the best attempt yet to make this election about issues, the seven parties running for CC 2010 class council participated in a debate last night moderated by the ever-stylish Subash Iyer. Vertical transportation featured prominently. Highlights follow.


debateStarting out, each party got the chance to introduce itself.



– The Columbia Undergraduates Supporting Progress party wants to give you condoms on every floor, low-emissions engines in every vehicle, and to “increase the student joy.” Sounds like a platform, guys.

Alma Matters started out its comments with a citation from Bwog. And they have two cheerleaders, and they talked to former freshman class president Jess Cohen. A+ for doing your homework.

Nonstop brought the hype in their signature orange…but president Sue Yang was a little too much for Bwog. “We’ll take you guys to the 105th floor of success, no matter if you take the stairs, or the elevator,” she bubbled. “And we’ll make the elevators better!”

– The TOGA party would like to give everyone subsidized Metrocards so students can better explore the city, “which is one of the reasons you all chose New York University.” Ouch.

– Freshmen First, in a jab to Nonstop, opined that “the elevator to success is working just fine.” Also, they want to “take care of your every little need,” including making sure that showers are warm and that elevators don’t skip floors. Bwog’s air conditioning has been acting up lately…

more debateIn a tricky twist, the parties got to pose questions of each other. They kept it mostly clean.



– In a question that those of us who follow campaign posters were wondering, Nonstop was asked whether they are cooperating with the SEAS party of the same name—a smart move, if it wasn’t dubiously legal. They replied that they’re starting to cross-council coordination already, not circumventing election rules.

Then came the audience questions. Senior class president David Chait compared working on financial aid reform to an elevator—slowly moving upwards but still able to be sped up—and asked candidates for their practical proposals, while keeping the escalator metaphors.



– The Columbia Undergraduates Supporting Progress wants to go up the escalator  holding hands with the administration.

– Alma Matters wants to climb the alumni network ladder, which they’ll make like an escalator.

Party of Five thinks it’s more like a ski lift, or a rocking chair, but they do want to work “within the system” with proposals that are “consistent with administration policies.”

– The TOGA party wants to work with the people who own the escalator (the parents) as well as the maintenance crew (the alumni).