Hoosier party outlines platform

The IU Student Association executive elections have been canceled, but the Hoosier party is using the extra time to promote its congressional candidates in the Feb. 27 election and make progress on its platform, said W.T. Wright, IUSA presidential candidate-elect. \nIUSA will also host an open forum at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union for students to discuss the next year with the Hoosier party. The forum was originally scheduled to be a debate, until the other ticket, High 5, dropped out of the race.\nWhile the Hoosier ticket waits to be certified by the IUSA Supreme Court, Wright said they are investigating what steps should be taken to accomplish their platform goals once they take office in April.\nDuring its administration, the party plans to work on the \ntransportation policy, athletic loyalty system and academic withdrawal period, said Wright and vice president candidate-elect Joe Dejean.\n“We’ve spent hours figuring out what ideas were accomplishable and would have the most positive effects for students,” Wright said.\nThe party said they plan to ask the transportation department to add more Midnight Special bus stops, especially near the stadium and fraternities and sororities.\nWright said the current IUSA administration has a good relationship with transportation services and the party hopes for a smooth transition between administrations.\n“We’re not going to bust on the scene and try to step on anyone’s toes,” Dejean said.\nThe party’s athletic loyalty system would improve student seating for IU “super fans,” Wright said. \nThe plan would be point-based, rewarding different points for different athletic events. Less popular athletic events might award more points. The more points a student earns, the better season tickets the student would get, Wright said. \n“There’s many different ways to run it,” he said. “The ground work’s been laid, and it’s something that’s probably going to be accomplished in our administration.”\nWright said he’d like the program to be set up for next basketball season.\nOhio State has implemented a similar program already, Dejean said.\nThe party also said they will try to extend the “academic ‘W’ period” and make the process of dropping a class easier for students by spring semester 2008.\nWright said the party will work on all three goals at once, but will most likely accomplish the athletic loyalty system first because foundations for the program have already been set by the current administration.\n“All (of the goals) are possibilities,” Dejean said. “We’re very open to other ideas. These were put together by a large group of students involved in the campus, but we’re a campus of 40,000 people.”\nWright and Dejean said the open forum is a “candid” time to hear these ideas, so they can better represent the student population.\n“We also want (students) to learn about us, so they can trust us with their opinions,” Dejean said.