EVERGREEN THE DAILY
E V E RY S T U D E N T. E V E RY S TO RY. E V E RY DAY. S I N C E 1 8 9 5 .
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019
VOL. 125 NO. 109
2019 ASWSU Presidential Tickets will debate 6 p.m. Sunday at the CUB Senior Ballroom
ASWSU candidates prepare for debate
JOSEPH GARDNER | THE DAILY EVERGREEN
BEN SCHUH | THE DAILY EVERGREEN
“[Prescott] and I offer a new perspective where we can bridge that divide,” said ASWSU presidential candidate Quinton Berkompas.
“I started to see how much leadership and being involved at this university would help students,” said ASWSU presidential candidate Mariela Frias-Gomez.
Quinton Berkompas, Jhordin Prescott
Mariela Frias-Gomez, Camille Naputo
Berkompas, Prescott want to bridge divide between ASWSU students, school
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By Cody Schoeler Evergreen reporter
unning partners Quinton Berkompas and Jhordin Prescott are hoping to bring a fresh viewpoint to WSU. “Too many students don’t feel like ASWSU is truly representing them, and [Prescott] and I offer a new perspective where we can bridge that divide,” Berkompas said. Berkompas is the ASWSU deputy director of legislative affairs and the former president of the Young Democrats at WSU. He said his work with his fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi, contributed to his qualification for being ASWSU president. “I have been a part of this process of building a fraternity from nothing up into a really strong chapter with 70 members and a renovated house,” he said. Prescott said she has not held a position within ASWSU, but Berkompas said they do not shy
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away from that. “That is going to be really helpful for us to bridge that divide between the student body and ASWSU,” he said. Prescott said she has focused a lot of her time on different committees within her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. She has also spent time working closely with the president and vice president of her house. Berkompas said they were inspired to run for office after working together to bring mental health assistance to their Greek houses. Mental health now stands as one of the pillars for their campaign. He said they are in the process of providing counselor services once a week for members of their chapters. “This is great. This is a good start for Thetas and [Delta] Sigs, but this should be [for] everyone,” Berkompas said. Ben Naumann, president of Delta Sigma Phi, said the work Berkompas and Prescott have done was great for their chapters. Naumann said Berkompas has been a big advocate for mental health See Berkompas Page 3
News | 3
Frias-Gomez, Naputo hope to make ASWSU more accessible for all students By Kaye Gill Evergreen reporter
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ariela Frias-Gomez and Camille Naputo want students to feel that ASWSU is open and inclusive to all students. “A lot of students see us as the multicultural ticket because we are two women of color,” Frias-Gomez said. “But we have been involved in other organizations and communities that aren’t based on multiculturalism.” She said if they were elected, they would be the first women of color in 104 years. They would work on a number of issues, not just one or two, since students face many issues at WSU. Frias-Gomez said during her first years at WSU, she got involved with Residence Hall Association (RHA), sat on a few administrative committees and worked on the President’s Student Advisory Board under WSU President Kirk Schulz. “I started to see how much leadership and being involved at this
university would help students with retention rates, with coming back to the university and feeling like they have something to give,” she said. Frias-Gomez said she is very passionate about helping students, and she has been able to do so over the past three years by being involved on campus. She began planning a presidential campaign last year because she wanted to continue and expand her work of helping others on campus. Naputo said she was very involved in high school but wanted to continue to be a leader at WSU. She said that as an out-of-state, first-generation student, she wanted to find a community and home on campus. Frias-Gomez said they are trying to level the playing field for every student at WSU, so that students feel welcomed by ASWSU. She said it has never been that way, and it’s a problem they hope to fix. Devon Holze, 2018 ASWSU vice presidential candidate, said she supports Frias-Gomez and Naputo because they have a well-thought-out platform, and they care about reaching out to all students on campus. See Frias-Gomez Page 7
Sports | 4
Life | 5
Students design school
Mardi Gras takes over
Cougs embarassed
WSU architecture students are competing to design a boarding school for Malawi.
Two Mardi Gras events this weekend will entertain and raise money for nonprofits on the Palouse.
Men’s basketball was throttled by Stanford on Thursday night, losing 98-50.
News | Page 3
Life | Page 5
Sports | Page 6
SUMMER SESSION Take Classes On Campus and/or Online REGISTRATION BEGINS NEXT WEEK Many short sessions throughout the summer. Choose the one that’s right for you.
summer.wsu.edu