IUSA gets down to business

While many students are spending this summer lying out on the beach taking a break from the grind, IU student government officials are looking to improve aspects of campus life. \nThe current party in office is Crimson, which was elected last winter. Junior Casey Cox, president of the IU Student Association, along with Crimson executives seniors Grant McFann, Alan Grant and Anne Eichengreen, is spending the summer drafting proposals, negotiating contracts and passing budget plans. \nOne of the proposals is to extend the hours and route of Bloomington Transit's late bus, the free public bus operating in the evening that tries to ensure students get home safely. \n"We are sitting in with contract talks with Bloomington Transit to develop an east route because right now there are only north and south routes," Cox said. \nThe east route would serve apartment complexes near the College Mall like Woodbridge, University Commons and other areas with a high concentration of students. \nIUSA also is endorsing a safety project investigating the efficiency of the blue emergency lights on campus. \n"We want to keep people off the streets at night," Congressional Secretary Grant said. \nGrant is in charge of running IU congress, which is made up of 58 students representing different schools on campus and housing locations who vote on different proposals and budget plans. \nAlong with heading Congress, Grant is involved in different programs, including building student support for the football program. \n"We are looking to get sponsors to lower the costs of tickets and to give away T-shirts to the entire student section," Grant said. "Hopefully, this will get more students more excited about the program -- and student support is at the core of any successful college football program."\nAnother goal is to institute a Main Library drop box to ease parking problems. \n"It's such a hassle to drop off a book at the library because it's so hard to find a parking spot," Cox said. "A drop box will hopefully eliminate the hassle and maybe even free up some parking."\nOne of the biggest projects is the creation of Dogears, the first IU comprehensive online book exchange, an "IU eBay" Cox said. IUSA is spending $1,000 contracting a company that will set up the program. \n"Dogears will not only provide for the trading and selling of books, but for furniture and listings of housing," Cox said. Similar programs have been started at Columbia University and the University of Michigan. \n"There will be no credit cards involved, eliminating security and privacy risks," Cox said. \nVice President McFann, whose duties include organizing the office and its 13 sub-departments, is spearheading programs, which he coined as "tier-one initiatives." These initiatives are designed to boost IU's national rankings. Included in these are programs aimed at improving the Writing Tutorial Services by making it more accessible to students and promoting "how not to flunk out" services to freshmen. \nMcFann said he also is working with Indiana elected officials in easing the "brain drain." Tuition reimbursement and internship placement programs are among some of the programs aimed at keeping IU graduates in Indiana after college. \nDealing with administration officials and outside organizations comes with difficulties. \n"Sometimes it takes a little more time and effort in negotiating than expected," Cox said. "Certain goals conflict within the IU community." \nHowever, the executives of IUSA said they have welcomed these challenges. \n"Being in IUSA over the summer teaches patience and gives you a healthy sense of cynicism when it comes to University bureaucracy," McFann said. "But the end results have been mostly very rewarding"