March 3 Jordan River Forum: Guest column by Justin Kingsolver

Justin D. Kingsolver
is the candidate for president on the Kirkwood for IUSA ticket.

The Kirkwood ticket — led by myself, sophomore Matt Ahlberg, junior Laurence Cormier and freshman Bailey Gerber — believes we are the best prepared group of motivated students to lead the IU Student Association next year.

In the IUSA debate Monday evening, it became clear that students have become disdainful of the politics of the past demonstrated by our opposition. Instead of reinforcing their own platform and explaining the qualifications of their candidates to lead (as the Kirkwood ticket did), my opponents attempted to disparage our campaign, our platform and our principled approach to student government.

We, as the Kirkwood ticket, have focused on promoting our five attainable and administrator-validated goals rather than centralizing our attention on why iUnity’s platform is unrealistic and utopian. To pledge to the student body that we will fully accomplish each of our goals (which, unfortunately, did not occur under the leadership of this year’s IUSA), we have titled our platform the “Kirkwood Promise.”

The first part of the Kirkwood Promise is to ensure that IU students are guaranteed a fall break, like the student bodies of other large universities in the state of Indiana (Notre Dame, Purdue, etc.). After speaking with every member of the Bloomington Faculty Council’s Calendar Committee and informing them of our proposal to deliver a week-long Thanksgiving break for students, Kirkwood is confident that we have developed the relationships we need to accomplish this promise.

Second, the Kirkwood administration will work with the Residence Hall Association, Residential Programs and Services, the Indiana Memorial Union and the Herman B Wells Library to implement our plan to allow meal points to be used in all food service locations in the Union and the Wells Library. Students — especially freshmen and other residence hall students — demand a choice in their dining options, and the we are committed to providing it.

The issue of campus safety has prevailed throughout this school year, resulting from the tragic death of one of our peers and far too many near misses. To prevent future incidents, the Kirkwood ticket has already met with safety officials from both the City of Bloomington and the Office of the Provost about installing crosswalks between Foster and McNutt Quads, between the graduate and undergraduate sides of the Kelley School of Business, between the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Herman B Wells Library, and between Read Center and the Jacobs School of Music. This third portion of the promise responds to a basic student need that simply has not been met.  

The final two pieces of the Promise deal with accessibility of library computers and fuller course descriptions. Our administration will be utilizing existing computer tracking technology to develop a flat-panel display system in the lobby of the Herman B Wells Library so students can save time by not needing to scour the library for an open computer.

The last part of our Kirkwood Promise is to include the course syllabus and book list in every course description, allowing students to make a more informed decision when choosing their courses.

We are committed to these ideas and will unceasingly fight to be an advocate and a voice for the student body.