Hedonistic IUSA issues are silly

This year's IUSA tickets - College, Connect, Kirkwood, Vote for Pedro and What About Bobby? - are setting their sights high on changing state law to lower the drinking age, improving tailgating and training cops not to break up parties. To that lofty list, there are a few other goals that should be added: We'd like to see better school dances, more vending machines in the lunchroom and longer passing periods between classes. \nFrom the important issues raised so far, you would think the IUSA tickets are running for high school student council. The "issues" presented to the public are just as superficial and unrealistic as holding the senior prom on a Caribbean island.\nThere are serious issues facing IU students for the next year, but you wouldn't know it from the IUSA tickets' quotes to the Indiana Daily Student ("IUSA has Five for Fighting," Feb. 3). The transportation fee, athletic fees, parking, the high cost of books, Onestart and tuition hikes are all important issues, but most tickets seem to have ignored them. \nOne of the IUSA tickets will be the student voice on these issues next year, so the tickets must address them. So far, only one ticket, Kirkwood, listed positions on serious issues on its Web site, but those were not the issues they chose to present to the IDS. Apparently, Kirkwood and other tickets believed students wouldn't care to hear about issues other than drinking.\nInstead of focusing on the real issues, the Kirkwood ticket made some vague comments on "change" to the IDS. College is inspired by the movie "Animal House," and Vote for Pedro wants the University to stop being parental. Connect talked about a key issue, administration accountability, and What about Bobby? wanted us to "wait and see" how their goals would be accomplished. Students deserve more detail from all tickets. Students are interested in the academic and financial aspects of campus life, which are far more important than getting busted for drinking.\nWhen the administration considers an issue, IUSA can favor or oppose a policy and has an important role in exerting pressure on the administration to do the right thing for all students. If IUSA tickets address only hedonistic issues, then the organization can't be respected by the administration. We need representatives who will be taken seriously.\nIUSA tickets also need to explain in their platforms how they will execute their goals. There's more to running a student government than having ideas. In the next two weeks, all tickets need to describe -- in detail -- how they will change IU for all students. \nIUSA should not be a high school popularity contest or an extension of one powerful group on campus. Instead, the tickets should focus on issues that affect everyone, not just students who voted them into office. The winning ticket should be the ticket best prepared to lead the entire student body.\nIf real issues aren't discussed in the next two weeks, then it doesn't really matter whether parties get broken up. If IUSA is a joke, then students' needs won't be addressed. All five IUSA tickets must talk about issues that affect students every day of the week, not just Friday night.