The two candidates running for Student Association vice president expressed different opinions on methods to wipe out student apathy and motivate student involvement in the SA at last night’s debate.

While candidate James Collins said he would encourage all organizations to get involved with the SA through letters and newspaper advertisements, Cameron Davis stressed a more direct “personal” approach and argued that student apathy is not extremely apparent.

On the issue of minority student involvement, Collins said, “I would like to see more minority students in the SA, but it is up to them. I can only push so much. I can’t confront each minority student individually to recruit them.”

“If a student is not interested in the SA, I do not see how I can make them more interested,” Collins said. Students wanting to serve their constituency have to become SA senators, he said.

Davis, who now serves as the SA public relations adviser, believes visiting each organization is the proper method of involving students.

“Letters are nice, but personal contact works,” Davis said. “It takes time to visit the individual organizations, but I will find the time.”

This year the SA has visited 70 out of the 160 organizations, almost twice as many than have been contacted in previous years, Davis said.

Also stressing experience as his main platform, Davis said his three years of involvement in the SA makes him able to “recognize the mistakes that have been made and make sure they don’t happen again.”

Collins, a transfer student who has been at NIU for three semesters, is member of the Campus Activities Board, its travel and special events committee. He also is a member of an NIU law fraternity. “I’m not a hermit, I have been active since I came to this university,” he said.