IUSA holds call-out meeting

Elections are on the minds of many Americans, and the Indiana University Student Association doesn’t want to miss out on the action.\nIUSA held a call-out meeting Thursday in Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union and will hold another Wednesday, Feb. 20 in the IMU Dogwood Room in preparation for the new student body government elections, which are scheduled for March 25 and 26. Applications for a ticket, which must consist of candidates for president, vice president, vice president of congress, treasurer and a congressional candidate, are due Feb. 29.\nStudent Body President W.T. Wright warned candidates to pay attention to the rules listed in the elections code. \n“There are certain things you can do and things you can’t do, and that could cost your ticket a lot of money,” he said. \nBut the most important thing, Wright said, is to involve every part of the IU community and to represent them each fairly. He added that the biggest responsibility is to involve the student body in the elections.\n“And it’s certainly a hard thing,” he said.\nWright said he hopes the projects he worked on as president will be continued by his successor. \nT.J. Wallace, who is running for vice president on the “Indiana” ticket, plans to pick up many of the projects IUSA has already started, such as advocating legislation for tax-free text books. But he also hopes to start a few projects of his own, like making bridges and walkways safer in wet weather. \n“IUSA is doing big things,” Wallace said. “Why don’t we just do small things that are actually going to affect people?”\nSarah McDonough, 2008 Student Association elections coordinator and 2007 Union Board president encouraged students to use this time to makes changes on campus. She suggested paying attention to flyers about different tickets, talking to candidates and of course, going to the IUSA debate, which will be held at 7 p.m. March 19 in the IMU State Room East.\n“It’s really important to get the student issues out on campus and I think IUSA elections are a great way to do it,” she said.\nIn the past, IUSA has had trouble finding enough candidates to run for office and has extended deadlines to ensure that candidates do not run unopposed. Last year IUSA was not able to hold a debate before the elections. This year, however, Steve Veldkamp, assistant dean of students and director of student activities, said things are looking up. \n“I think just from this call-out meeting it appears that there are several tickets forming,” he said. \nStudents can contact McDonough for more information on the elections at smcdono@indiana.edu.