RHA elections today

Residential Halls Association elections are being held today. The three tickets are Fusion, Amplify and K.I.S.S. Students may vote for the candidates within their respective living centers. Voters will receive paper ballots and must vote between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. today at their residence hall, Fusion presidential-candidate Erin Ransford said. \nRHA serves as the student government body in the residence halls. According to the Association's Web site, RHA was founded to involve student opinion in important decisions in the Division of Residential Programs and Services. Divisions within the association are split into executive, legislative and judicial branches and exist on two levels. Large-scale coverage exists through the campus-wide executive board and locally in each residence hall.\nElections are held annually and students living in eleven residence halls are the only ones allowed to vote, according to current RHA Vice President of Student Affairs Brian Holman. \nFusion\nThe Fusion ticket's platform states "the candidates of Fusion pride themselves on dedication, experience, and quality of leadership." Led by junior and presidential candidate Erin Ransford, the Fusion ticket's motto is "working together for students."\nRasford said their ticket has the ability to ask "hard questions that will get answers." \n"Because of our excellent relationship with the administration, we want to incorporate the input of students," Ransford said.\nFusion plans to address student concerns by initiating their game plan F.O.C.U.S: An acronym that stands for Feedback, Opportunities, Communication, Unify and Students First.\nSome of the ticket's new plans for improving RHA include incorporating an at-large student presence at committee meetings, as well as refining the leadership training for senators and vice governors of respective residence halls, Ransford said.\n"As president, I want to improve the quality of life by improving the quality of leadership," Ransford said. "There is currently a lot of apathy. Dealing more directly with residents will increase the voice of the residence improving the quality of life."\nThe ticket plans to establish communication with students by holding a campus wide Town Hall meeting twice a semester, making the RHA's Web site user-friendly and re-establishing the rotating office hours policy.\nIssues of concern for the Fusion ticket include representing the students' concerns. Their platform advocates eliminating the bus plan, providing healthy food and more food options for students and keeping the Information Technology fees low.\n"FUSION will represent the concerns, needs, and desires of the decision-making process on every issue," according to the Fusion platform. "FUSION wants to work to create administrative proposals, not try to change them after the fact."\nAmplify\nSet on fixing the problems that exist in RHA, the Amplify ticket stresses the importance of accountability, relationships and getting things done. \nSenior Ilia Smith is the Amplify presidential candidate, and she said there are problems within the residence halls they want to address. Smith is the treasurer candidate for the Steel IUSA ticket.\n"If you live in the residence halls currently, then you have problems," Smith said. "Our ticket is composed of motivated people, and there are things we want to fix."\nSome new ideas the Amplify ticket boasts include an online accountability page, which would let residents track how their local presidents and senators are voting. Smith said this policy would hold leaders accountable for knowing what their residents want, which would ensure resident approval. They also want to add more cable stations within the dorms, add food to places that no longer have it such as Briscoe and Ashton and improve overall security at the dorms.\nAmplify also wants to create a more visible RHA by establishing office hours at various locations, a change from making students walk to 801 N. Jordan, where the RHA offices are located. \nSmith said she wants to work on relationships with other student organizations, namely IUSA.\n"RHA and IUSA tend to butt heads," Smith said. "They should work together, it would be more beneficial to everyone."\nSmith said Amplify would not take an adversarial approach to working with the administration on campus issues.\n"You have to respect the administrators and their position," Smith said. "They're there to make sure students have what they need. We'll fight if we have to, but that's not our goal. We just want to make things better, not just be political."\nK.I.S.S.\nLed by graduate student Dietrich Willke, the K.I.S.S. ticket is comprised of the lone leadership of Willke, an active member of multiple student organizations and committees. Willke could not be reached by comment. \nHolman said all candidates have enough experience to excel at serving students. \n"Dietrich is involved in more student organizations and committees than anyone on campus," Holman said. "Erin (Ransford) is extremely competent and probably the most organized, she is one of the most organized people I know. She's always working. And I've never met a student who is more devoted to serving students than Ilia Smith, and the rest of the Amplify ticket is the same way."\nSenior Ken Minami, current RHA president, said he wants students to vote in order to allow them to have a direct impact on issues affecting them.\n"It's important that everyone goes out to vote," Minami said. "The best way to have their voice heard is to go out there and vote"