Incumbent keeps seat in trustee election

IU board of trustees incumbent Sue Talbot will get another three years to make her mark as an IU trustee. \nTalbot won the annual election for the open trustee seat Wednesday, defeating the nearest candidate by more than 3,500 votes in a race that brought in nearly 29,500 ballots.\nTalbot said she is extremely happy with the results of the race, but made sure to give the four other candidates credit for their commitments to IU.\n"It makes me feel very good (to have won) because the candidates I ran against were wonderful and fully qualified people," Talbot said. "I've learned a lot in the three years I have served with the trustees, but I think that all of (the candidates) love this institution.."\nTalbot won the race with 11,396 votes, Robert Cummins finished with 7,846 votes, Gary businesswoman Faye Tippy finished with 4,026 votes while David Dan Welker and David Northern finished with 3,072 and 3,018 votes, respectively. \nIU Alumni Trustee Election Coordinator Doug McKinney said IU received a total of 29,432 ballots from IU alumni, down slightly from the 30,752 votes in the 2003 race, while 74 ballots were deemed invalid because of reasons ranging from voting for more than one candidate to IU alumni who are now deceased. McKinney said this year's count went quickly because of the relatively low number of ballots received as opposed to years past.\n"Prior to the 'Year of Bobby Knight,' we received about 25,000 ballots," McKinney said. "During the 2000 race, we received a record of about 45,000 votes, and since then, we have slowly decreased every year."\nCummins also finished as the runner-up in last year's race, garnering 14,303 votes to current trustee Cora Breckenridge's 16,368. Despite the loss, Cummins said he wishes for a good term for the incumbent and applauds the job she has done while serving as a trustee.\n"I have nothing but good to say about Sue," Cummins said. "She's worked hard for the University and that's been recognized by the alumni."\nTalbot said she expects an entirely new experience for her next term as a trustee.\n"I think this term will be entirely different," Talbot said. "There's a new president and we want to be able to help him forward his plan and the administration."\nTalbot said the main goal for her second term is to control costs for both the students and the state at-large. She said the trustees recognize the financial problems the state government has dealt with and the University budget will change accordingly. \n"Cost containment for the students is very important for both the students and the University," Talbot said. "Everything gets more expensive every year and we try very hard to run the best university and still contain the cost so we can maintain a world-class university the public can afford."\n-- Contact Managing Editor Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.