Editor's Note: The IU Student Association Elections are looming. Next week students will weigh in on who they think will do the best job. In the meantime, the four tickets -- College, Connect, Kirkwood and Vote for Pedro -- discuss a different issue each day with the Indiana Daily Student.
Transportation Fee\nWith a majority of students living off-campus, each of this year's IUSA tickets has something to say about how students get to class. \nAccording to the IU Office of Admissions, 65 percent of students live off-campus, with the remaining 35 percent living in residence halls or greek houses.\nThe four parties each have an opinion about the University's transportation policies, the most controversial of which is a $30 fee charged to every student regardless of how much the student uses the bus system. The Campus Bus Web site, www.iubus.indiana.edu, offers students consolation by explaining that everyone benefits when fewer cars crowd the already packed parking lots, garages and Bloomington streets. \nWhen Crimson came into office last year, the executives had to consider a course of action that would either reduce bus services or raise the transportation fee to $50 per student. The $20 increase was approved by the IUSA Congress but rejected by the Graduate Professional Student Association, which said most of its constituents rarely use the services because they live on or close to campus. \nMembers of the Vote for Pedro ticket said they understand no extra buses or routes can be added because it is too expensive, said Courtney Thom, candidate for congressional secretary. But before students give an extra $20 to the bus system, IUSA should investigate just what that money can do for them, said Alex Shortle, Vote for Pedro's presidential candidate.\n"We need to know exactly what they're going to do," Shortle said of the bus company. "Are they going to increase the (number of) buses? Are they going to make more efficient routes? Why can't they continue to do what we have now with what we paid last year?"\nThe Connect ticket also plans to re-examine the fee because giving the bus company more money might not be the answer to IU's transportation woes, said Ami Holthouse, Connect's vice president of administration candidate. \nPlus, executive candidates feel they might have a special advantage. John Palmer, Connect's presidential candidate, serves on the Student Fee Review Board.\n"If the fee does go through we'll have more clout (to address the issue)," he said. "Regardless if it gets passed, we're going to take a hard look at the system."\nThe Kirkwood ticket opposes the universal transportation fee because it feels that those students who do not use the buses should not be forced to pay for them. \n"It should be based on a pay-as-you-go basis," said Jim Hoff, Kirkwood's vice president of administration candidate. \nBryan Strawbridge, Kirkwood's presidential candidate, said requiring students to pay a universal fee causes an increase in riders but not an increase in services offered or money made.\nIn place of the universal fee, Kirkwood hopes to introduce the Hoosier Hurry Pass, an electronic device attached to a car's windshield that scans automatically when a student enters or leaves a parking garage. The pass should eliminate the need for tickets and cash payments, Strawbridge said, because the payments will be charged to students' bursar accounts.\nThe increased transportation fee was initially proposed because bus operating costs had not been adjusted for inflation in decades. Much like the athletics fee, the extra money might help the bus system get out of the red. But students should not have to bear that burden, said Will Lumpkin, vice presidential candidate for the College ticket.\n"I think that fees are going to be a part of life in college," Lumpkin said. "(But) if they're going to increase the fee, we're going to make sure we're getting something out of it." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Colleen Corley at ccorley@indiana.edu.
