Tickets face off at IUSA debate tonight

For the tickets looking to take over the IU Student Association offices in April, tonight can make or break a campaign. \nFour out of the five tickets running for IUSA plan to debate at 8 p.m. in the Oak Room in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nWhat about Bobby? will most likely not participate because the debate is not that important to his ticket, said Presidential Candidate Eric Wolok.\n"I might boycott it," he said. "IUSA is a joke. I spent $12 on the campaign so far. I don't feel like my time is well spent on (a debate) that people don't take very seriously." \nWolok said the lack of advertising for the debate leads to low student involvement, but members of the other tickets expressed anticipation about being face-to-face with students and each other. \n"I am extremely excited about the debate," said Shane Merriweather, the presidential candidate for College. "Tickets can see where one another are. In addition, the student body can see where we lie against one another."\nAll registered tickets are invited to participate in the annual debate, which will be moderated by IUB Interim Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis and which will last about an hour. This is the first time Gros Louis will moderate the question-and-answer debate. The chancellor prepared questions for the tickets with IUSA Election Commissioner Tyler Bonds.\n"I'm hoping that the answers will give those who vote a good sense of the differences among the tickets," Gros Louis said in an e-mail.\nThe incumbent administration has never outspokenly supported a particular candidate, but its involvement gives some weight to the debate, which has traditionally been plagued by very low attendance. In 2003, only 10 students attended who were not affiliated with one of the tickets.\nCurrent IUSA President Tyson Chastain said the chancellor's willingness to get involved means he wants to make sure IUSA really is representing the student voice.\n"It not only shows how active he is on campus, but also shows the administration's support for IUSA," Chastain said.\nTickets are also eager to prove their good standing with the University, even though many issues on the tickets' platform and their plans to achieve them might contradict or criticize University policies. But because each ticket will be discussing the same issues, the real competition might come down to matters of experience, said Connect Vice Presidential Candidate Charles Benson.\n"I hope the biggest issue of the debate is the relevant experience the candidates have for their respective positions that they're competing for," he said. "I think it will be an issue, and that it should be an issue."\nOther issues that are expected to be debated include tuition, fees and alcohol policies. How to spend the large IUSA budget, which Chastain estimates will be about $90,000 next year, stands to be a hot topic as well. Kirkwood Treasurer Candidate Ashley Crouse said she hopes students consider how each ticket's platform plans to allocate those funds.\n"I think the biggest part of the debate is going to be how each ticket's platform is going to be carried out," she said. "The big issue is determining which group of executives is truly presenting a platform they understand and are planning on pursuing." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Colleen Corley at ccorley@indiana.edu.