2 groups unveil candidacies

Two groups introduced their candidacies for IU Student Association offices Sunday and set out the issues on which they want to focus. The official campaign kickoff was Thursday and elections will be Feb. 20-21.\nONE\nTouting perseverance and activism, the ONE ticket announced its IUSA platform at the Alpha Delta Pi sorority house. Each candidate briefly outlined the ticket's platform.\nONE's executive candidates are senior Justin Treasure for president, junior Amanda Thompson for vice president for congress, senior Dave Charney for vice president for administration and junior Matt Miller for treasurer.\nCharney defined ONE, an acronym for "Optimistic New Energy," as "a team of diverse individuals capable of raising a collaborative voice in support of change." He said chief among the group's concerns is increased campus safety through additional lighting and emergency blue lights funded by the Committee for Higher Education. ONE also hopes to implement IU Police Department foot patrols and expanded bike patrols.\nThe group said it is working with local businesses to implement the Boost Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students (BACCHUS) bus system year-round. The bus now runs to Kirkwood Avenue and campus greek houses during the Little 500 weekend. Treasure said the Bloomington Police Department and IUPD have been cooperative in facilitating this effort to reduce drunken driving, as have local entrepreneurs.\nThompson, current assistant director of the faculty course evaluation department, noted that former IUSA administrations have focused on short-term issues. ONE, she said, has already begun seeking support from the Bloomington community, the IU administration and the state house. \nTreasure said he is disappointed the University has dropped in U.S. News and World Report rankings from its former status as a top-tier national university. According to the ticket's official platform, administration officials average an 8 to 16 percent salary increase. Faculty, conversely, receive between one and two percent raises. This disproportion, coupled with Gov. Frank O'Bannon's recent proposal to freeze higher education spending, results in poor professor retention, according to the platform.\n"We're very disappointed to see this imbalance," Thompson said. "The board of trustees isn't setting aside funds vital to retention for faculty pay increases. We're taxpayers speaking on behalf of 37,000 students; it's time we used IUSA to its fullest capability."\nTreasure agreed, saying, "We can no longer hold the administration, faculty, and alumni accountable for dealing with the university's problems. It's time for students to come out and really make changes on this campus."\nSupernova\nSupernova, another IUSA ticket, announced its candidacy and introduced its executive ticket in the Indiana Memorial Union. As the name suggests, Supernova said energy will distinguish its campaign, their platform and their impact on campus.\nSupernova's executive candidates are junior Jake Oakman for president, junior Christopher Smith for vice president for congress, sophomore Jeff Wuslich for vice president for administration and junior Emily Kolles for treasurer.\nWhile the ticket will work to build on the accomplishments of current officers, it said it will bring new energy, new people and new ideas into IUSA.\n"We have a high energy campaign that will make a big impact on campus," Wuslich said.\nMembers said the ticket is focusing on four main priorities -- campus-wide improvement, opening up communication, helping to instill a feeling of pride and continuing to add new technology. \nThe ticket has gathered a full slate of congressional candidates representing a variety of campus organizations, members said.\n"We didn't want to just get 50 or 60 congressional people," Oakman said. "We wanted to get top-of-the-line people from a diverse background, willing to go the extra mile."\nSeveral of the ticket's congressional candidates attended Sunday's announcement, where each of the four executive candidates addressed one of the ticket's four priorities. Once elected, each of the four will be spearheading efforts on one of the priorities.\nOakman, an IUSA senator for two years and president pro tempore of congress, focused on campus improvements.\nHe said some goals are to increase hours in academic buildings, especially in computer labs and practice areas for music students, to investigate the undergraduate business fee and to add change machines to campus laundry rooms \nTo open communication, Smith said the ticket will empower small organizations, coordinate larger ones and organize a campus-wide bash. Smith served last year as the Union Board outreach director, he said. For the ticket announcement, Wuslich focused on pride and tradition. He said the ticket would bring back siblings weekend and work to improve the University's academic reputation.\nKolles said she will bring a new perspective to IUSA. She said the ticket will focus on technological improvements by adding laptop portals, e-mail access terminals and investigating ATM access on campus.