Debate heats up as election nears

With election next week, candidates address issues of parking, tuition in IMU\nThe Indiana Memorial Union's State Room East featured a fiery debate between IU Student Association executive candidates from all four tickets Wednesday night. \nModerator and Indiana Daily Student Editor in Chief Adam VanOsdol asked each ticket to comment on the issues of parking, alcohol policy, tuition costs, the IUSA budget and the current IUSA administration's collegiate readership program trial. The last segment of the debate gave each ticket a chance to pitch their distinguishing stances and allowed other tickets to respond.\nHoosier Party Presidential candidate Aaron Radez compared the IU parking fines to those of other cities.'\n"The average (IU) student is paying $55 for parking tickets," he said, suggesting current IUSA reforms will worsen the situation. "Seventy-five dollars is ridiculous, and Hoosier Party will not let that stand."\nOther tickets mentioned bus route improvements and more parking spaces as possible solutions. \nBig Red Vice Presidential Candidate and senior Angel Rivera highlighted the importance of alcohol policy reform.\n"As long as 1,100 students on this campus are getting arrested each year, the current policy is not working," he said.\nSome other tickets disagreed, stating while alcohol affects student life, other issues need to be addressed first.\nCrimson Presidential Candidate Tyson Chastain said his candidates would fight tuition increases.\n"We need to start lobbying to show what we're giving to the community and Indiana," he said. "We need to start getting the money we deserve."\nFusion Presidential Candidate Dan Shapiro said his ticket would work with IU's diverse array of student groups to decide how best to utilize IUSA's budget.\n"There's so much more on this campus than alcohol," he said, explaining Fusion's intent to devote money to student groups. "This is what we need to fight for."\nAdministrators attended the debate as well.\n"I was happy that (Dean of Students Richard) McKaig and (Assistant Dean of Students Steve) Veldkamp came as well, showing that the administration is taking the interest," said IUSA Elections Coordinator Derek Molter.\nSenior Jon Schurger is a three-year member of the Campus Community Commission on Alcohol, which makes all the recommendations to the administration regarding alcohol, he said.\n"Not a single one of these people up here tonight has ever come to a CCCA meeting or discussed the issue with anyone on the alcohol commission," he said, pointing out that students are allowed to drink in many dorm sections.\nThough campaign supporters were out in force, unaffiliated students in search of information on the 2004-2005 candidates were scarce.\n"I didn't really know what to expect, but I was very happy with the discussion," said sophomore Elli Williams, who organized the debate. "The candidates took it upon themselves to pull their platforms together and present them really well."\nElections begin at 10 a.m. Feb. 24 and continue until 10 p.m. Feb. 25.\nCampaign overflows with alcohol platforms\nIU Student Association election season is in full gear now, and alcohol is on the tip of each candidate's tongue.\nAll four platforms address the issue, which has come under fire from both administrators and student groups.\nHoosier Party's Presidential Candidate Aaron Radez said IU students who want to use the IUSA budget to host festivals featuring musical acts and alcohol vendors should vote for the Hoosier party Feb. 24 and 25.\nThe party plans to consider student input when booking and organizing multiple venues.\n"We intend on maximizing the college experience for IU students," he said. "Do you want one Snoop Dogg, or do you want a whole bunch of local bands?"\nRadez said the revenue from alcohol would finance the events, along with co-op advertising and the IUSA budget.\nBig Red Vice Presidential Candidate Angel Rivera said his party would work to allow all of-age students to drink in their dorm rooms or Greek houses. He said the current system of designated 21-and-over dormitory wings is flawed because students cannot live there unless they are 21 at the beginning of the school year.\n"I don't want to have people drink any more or any less on this campus," he said. "I just want people to not get in trouble with what they are already doing. (The administration's) mentality is, 'How do we keep students from drinking?' We should ask, 'Why can they not drink?'"\nJunior Scott Norman, vice presidential candidate for the Crimson ticket, said IU must rebuild its alcohol policy from the ground up to allow of-age students to drink in dorms and Greek houses.\n"I think the alcohol policy is way too strict," he said. "It doesn't give students the benefit of the doubt. It doesn't create the environment where students can comfortably, safely, legally drink."\nHowever, Presidential Candidate Tyson Chastain said Crimson will not push for a "wet" campus because doing so could compromise IU's federal funding.\n"We can have the sort of party atmosphere that every student wishes we could have, and we can do that without having to lose our funding from the government," Norman said. \nJunior Dan Shapiro agrees a wet campus is unrealistic and said his Fusion ticket would instead work with local law enforcement to cut down on alcohol-related arrests.\nHe said Fusion would create a forum in which students, administrators and law enforcement officials could confer on their respective responsibilities.\n"We all know what goes on on this campus," he said. "It's about working with the administration and with the police department so we can hold each other accountable. We need to get on the same page."\nThe idea of laxer alcohol policies has administrators and some students less than excited.\n"As far as serving alcohol in the middle of Dunn meadow, why?" Dee Owens, director of the Alcohol and Drug Information Center at IU, asks of the Hoosier Party platform. "That says to me that you can't have fun without alcohol. I enjoy music, and I can do so drinking water. That's really bad when your entire social life is based on alcohol."\nOwens said student groups have approached her to voice their concern over the focus on alcohol.\n"I've had very large group of students come to me and say, 'This is ridiculous. This cheapens our degree. (We) don't want to get a degree from a so-called party school,'" Owens said.\nOwens also pointed out IU could lose substantial federal funding if the school cannot prove it has made progress in combatting underage and binge drinking.\nRadez defended his party's intent to hold events that serve alcohol.\n"I don't think we're trying to give a party school image to IU," he said. "We're just trying to a have a good feeling of campus environment at IU."\nRivera said rather than giving IU a bad rap, looser drinking laws would alleviate some of the bad press IU gets from alcohol-related student deaths.\n"There are many universities both in the Big Ten and around the country that have much less strict alcohol policies and do not have this party image attached to them," he said, citing Notre Dame as an example. "One of the main reasons that IU gets ranked so highly has to do directly with the number of alcohol arrests on campus."\nRivera added IU's party school image results from alcohol arrests.\n"What's hurting IU's reputation is the high number of arrests," he said. "The school should not be a police department." \nBut Chastain said such loose alcohol policies are unrealistic and would only exacerbate tuition increases if IU lost federal funding.\n"The majority of the tickets are promising false reality," he said. "There's things that can be done, and we are looking for leniency (from the administration)."\nChastain said the current IUSA administration is working for reasonable concessions from IU.\nShapiro said while his party will address alcohol as vehemently as other tickets, he feels other issues need more emphasis.