IUSA looks toward elections

With the IU Student Association elections on the horizon, the Kirkwood party is looking toward accomplishing the remainder of their campaign promises within the next few months.\nIUSA President Bill Gray said the goals of the IUSA executives for the rest of their term include finishing work on the Student Group Support Act, increasing distribution of The New York Times, working to keep the extended library hours and writing a letter to the national chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon condemning their decision to close down their IU chapter and leave all its members searching for homes during the week before finals.\n"So far, it really does appear that they did a serious injustice to those students," Gray said. "They had no time to find a new place to live. But, we'll have to investigate it."\nIUSA also will assist the University in its efforts to lobby the Indiana General Assembly for more funds for higher education, Gray said.\n"As students, we have an invested interest in the University and in the state economy," he said.\nAlthough they are still hoping to remain active, IUSA will begin moving its focus to the upcoming elections.\nFormer IUSA Vice President of Administration Jeff Wuslich said despite losing the office of president to the Kirkwood party, he was happy about the increased voter turnout during the student government election, which is something he said should be continued this year. \n"Voter turnout last year was extremely high," Wuslich said. "Hopefully it will be equally as high this year because that way more of the student body is represented."\nWith last year's Kirkwood ticket successfully emerging as a new party, Wuslich said he believes this year will mean more competition and more tickets. \n"I think the success of Kirkwood last year will encourage other students to start their own tickets and run," he said.\nGray said he is looking forward to the new tickets as a means of attracting new ideas. \n"I think anytime you get more candidates involved, it is beneficial," he said.\nOne of those candidates is senior Laura Walda, who is running on the new Action ticket she started with some acquaintances. \n"When people see who is on our ticket, they are going to say 'Wow,'" Walda said, "because we have such a diverse ticket."\nWalda said her goal is to get students energized about the upcoming IUSA election. \n"We don't want them to say, 'Oh, another election,'" Walda said. "We want students to have fun and be excited about IUSA."\nWith the Executive Director of Federal Relations for IU John Walda as her father, Laura Walda has political experience in her family. \n"My father ran for both vice president and president for IUSA and didn't win both times," Walda said. "But I am sure I will ask him for advice in my campaign."\nWith more candidates and new parties, competition this year can be difficult. Gray said he hopes this year everyone will run a nice, clean campaign.\n"I was absolutely shocked by how nasty politics can be," Gray said. "I would like to see more comradery among the people in IUSA. Even if you are running against each other, that doesn't mean you have to hate each other"