New Hoosier executive team to take office for IUSA on Friday

The Hoosier executive party-elect of the IU Student Association will take office on Friday.\nThere is an immediate need for students to fill directorships of various areas, IUSA President-elect W.T. Wright said.\nApplications can be picked up in the IUSA office, room 387 of the Indiana Memorial Union, and are due Monday, April 16.\nWright said the administration will need nine directors. Examples of positions to be filled are director of health and safety, director of public relations and director of technology. Hours will vary depending on the specific directorship. Some directorships will require as few as one to three hours per week.\nThe current and future administrations have been meeting over the past week in order to make the transition as smooth as possible, Wright said.\n“We’ve been learning about the status of (the current administration’s) different initiatives and what we need to do to keep them,” Wright said.\nCurrent IUSA President Betsy Henke said she’ll enjoy having the extra 20-plus hours that her job took every week. While she’ll miss being IUSA president, she feels she is leaving her role in capable hands.\n“(The new administration) has leaders who care and understand about IU,” she said in an e-mail. “They are realistic in their ideas and plans for next year and are able to see the future impact of their actions and plans, which is crucial for gaining respect and attention of those around you.”\nSome of the current administration’s initiatives include promoting legislation that would eliminate taxes from textbooks and working with the athletics department to try to establish better student seating.\nWright said it has not been determined which projects the new administration will maintain.\nAs for other preparation, the new administration has been working on its own initiatives. Wright said the party is planning to meet with the transportation committee to request that the Midnight Special bus run more frequently and add more stops. Wright said he has already been to a transportation meeting and received some optimistic feedback.\nOne of the Hoosier party’s initiatives is getting a fall and Labor Day break for 2008. Wright said he attended a Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, where these issues were discussed.\nJunior Caitlin Wilson said she likes the textbook idea and anything that would decrease the cost of attending college.\n“If they could lower the cost of parking, that would be good,” she said.\nPermits cost a lot and you can’t even find parking places, said Wilson, who normally walks or takes the bus to campus. She said she would also appreciate continued IUSA efforts for more student seats on the floor of Assembly Hall. She suggested IUSA send mass e-mails to get its message out.\n“If I don’t read the (newspaper), I don’t see what they’re promoting,” she said.\nSenior Garrett Hondorp said he would like cheaper basketball season tickets with better seats, but he thinks the association is doing a pretty good job.\n“They should just keep doing what they’re doing,” he said. “As long as they make themselves available to people who seek them out, it’s fine.”\nAlthough making oneself available has its costs, Henke said the experience was worthwhile.\nHenke said her term has given her many opportunities to learn from the IU administration, faculty and students and that her IUSA presidency has prepared her for the future.\n“I came in loving IU, and I leave with an even greater passion and love for this University,” she said. “Serving in this role demands a lot of time and dedication, which I will always use, but it also has built my ability to work in teams.”\nNot only has her job given her more confidence, but also taught her how to balance priorities, she said.\n“I understand how to put the effort into accomplishing objectives and still make sure I make it out for sink the biz night at Nick’s,” she said. “Working and social life have to have some type of balance and importance and this job has certainly taught me how to deal with both.”