IUSA election campaigns commence, first two tickets formed

Another IU Student Association ticket has formed. The Synergy ticket has junior Brian Daviduke as candidate for student body president. The other executive positions are filled by junior Aimee Dawson as vice president of congress, Justin Barnes, a junior, for vice president of administration and junior Kerry Hall as student body treasurer. \nDaviduke currently serves as IUSA director for health and safety, and Barnes is the director for student rights. Dawson is a representative from the College of Arts and Sciences, and this will be Hall's first experience with IUSA.\n"Synergy literally means, 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,'" Dawson said. "This was an illuminating definition of our ticket's members and collective efforts and goals. More synergizing must go on in order to represent the students effectively and respectfully.\n"Otherwise, IUSA is simply an association, not a real student association."\nBarnes said some of the issues they plan to focus on include student groups, improving residence halls and revitalizing the greek system.\nDaviduke said the issuing of Student Organization Account cards to all student groups is something the ticket wants to help enact.\nDaviduke used the Muslim student group, which he said does not have an SOA, as an example. "It's a student group," Daviduke said. "They deserve the same things other student groups get." \nDaviduke also said he wants to make some changes within IUSA, especially regarding chief of staff position.\nBarnes said the Synergy ticket wants to be open to all issues of student concern. \n"We're a part of this community," Barnes said, "and we are responsible for making this the best campus it can be. I have the willingness to listen."\nAnother issue for Daviduke is student involvement in the election process. \n"I'd like to see more than 16 percent of people vote," Daviduke said. "It's a $270,000 organization, and most of that is student money. Every student should vote because it's their money."\nBarnes said the ticket has seen a lot of interest, and it has more than 45 of its congress seats filled.\n"Congress is probably the most important aspect of IUSA," Daviduke said. "They're our muscle. We're just the faces. We're going to support what they want to do."\nDaviduke said the ticket is strengthened by the presence of Kerry Hall, who is new to IUSA. He said she can bring a new voice and perspective to the organization.\nDawson said she felt IUSA needed better leadership and more progress. She said she felt it was her duty to run, and she was not going to wait around for change to occur on the IU campus.\n"I was looking for a group of people who knew that their minds were only as good as the student's support and input," Dawson said. "We're all here for the students, and we're all not going to relent in our efforts to make IU an even better place."\nBarnes said their ticket was about energy with passion. \n"Student government can be an amazing vehicle for change," Barnes said. "I'm a big believer that we can change anything we set our minds to"