IUSA works to represent

The IU Student Association works hard to represent students at IU. Over the years, its members have been responsible for changing state laws, shaping University policies, raising money for charity, lobbying federal and state legislators, and a variety of other things intended to make life easier for students.\nIn 1975, after an extensive lobbying campaign, IUSA convinced state lawmakers to appoint a student to the IU Board of Trustees. Determined members of the organization also campaigned for student representation on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, which was added in 1990.\nLast year, concerned students came to members of the Student Body Congress with problems concerning early morning construction projects near the dorms. After taking the issue to the IU Administration, the University agreed to change its policies to prohibit loud morning construction in and around the residence halls. Members of IUSA also worked with students tired of paying high prices for E parking permits in order to park on campus after hours. Negotiations with Parking Operations yielded the new F pass, which now allows students to park on campus after 5 p.m. for less.\nThis year, IUSA's Student Rights Department established the Student Judicial Program in order to assist students going through the University's judicial system. When Sept. 11 changed our lives forever, IUSA worked with the Residence Halls Association, the greek community and other student organizations to raise over $5,000 to benefit survivors of the attacks.\nIn addition to all it does for students, IUSA made necessary changes to its outdated constitution for the first time since 1991. One significant change in eleven years is hardly evidence of a preoccupation with internal rules and procedures. There will always be more that IUSA can do for students, but that doesn't mean that all it does now is meaningless.