IUSA votes in favor of higher standards

In its last meeting of the semester, the IU Student Association Congress voted unanimously to support the Bloomington Faculty Council to increase admission standards at IU. \nSophomore Matt Fortman, sponsor of the resolution, said if standards are raised, they would only be increased enough to keep the University competitive.\n"If this is passed by the BFC, it's not going to raise them a whole lot," he said. "You probably won't even notice a difference. It's really just to keep up with other schools in the Big Ten." \nIUSA President Alex Shortle said it was important for Congress to make a statement regarding admission standards. \n"I think it's great for Congress to step up and make as statement regarding that issue," he said. "It's a paramount issue for the University right now. I think we finally have an active voice in University governance from a student standpoint." \nAdditional passed legislation included a resolution to write to the state legislature encouraging it to keep tuition payments separate from additional University fees, such as technology and health fees. \nFreshman Jordan Loeb said if student fees are calculated in combination with tuition, \nstudent groups that require funding could suffer. \n"Where the problem occurs is tuition can only be increased by 4.9 percent each year," he said. "Because they don't fall under tuition, (student fees) can increase separately ... We're writing to them to say start using two different numbers." \nA resolution permitting IUSA to fill vacant Congress seats with applicants who are not from the school or residency they would represent was debated and tabled until the next meeting. \nThe resolution was proposed to fill a seat for the School of Nursing, which has been vacant for the past several meetings. \nLoeb, who sponsored the resolution, said he was not surprised that it was met with resistance, but still believed it was better than leaving the seat empty. \n"I understand where they're coming from, but at the same time I also know that it's possible to be a good representative of people that you're not a part of the constituency." \nSome members of Congress expressed concerns that filling a seat with someone from outside the represented constituency was unconstitutional. Several suggested advertising the opening more before filling the Nursing school seat with someone from another school. \nWright Quad senator Claudia Rhye said she supported changing the seat if an applicant from the Nursing school could not be found. \n"I think that if this constituency really wants to be represented, then it's their responsibility to seek that, and we don't need to go out of our way and request that they be part of Congress," she said. "I think it's a brilliant idea to change a vacant seat position to an at-large position." \nCongress also unanimously approved the appointment of senior Keith Johnson as the 2006 IUSA election coordinator. Johnson served as president of the Indiana Memorial Union Board of Directors for 2005 and was in charge of the election process for the 2006 IMU Board. \nIn his recommendation, Shortle expressed a strong belief that Johnson was qualified for the job.