BtownUnited kicks off campaign

With 32 days left until IUSA elections, executive branch hopefuls running on the BtownUnited ticket publicly launched their campaign Wednesday night, emphasizing success through experience.

Current IUSA Chief of Staff Neil Kelty, seeking the position of student body president, heads the ticket.

He is joined by VP for Administration candidate Barrett Tenbarge, VP for Congress candidate Katie Tetrick, Chief of Staff candidate Jana Kovich and Student Body Treasurer candidate Jeff Williams.

“I think experience is vitally important,” Kelty said. “I think it’s really a learning experience to figure out how this campus works. It’s a big learning curve, and I think it takes a couple of years in IUSA to really figure that out. So that’s where experience really helps out.”

The ticket announced its five platforms: a basketball ticket loyalty program, a bulk textbook purchasing model aimed at saving students $600 on average, a discounted cab ride program, a web-based room reservation system and the intention to bring the 2012 presidential debates to the IU campus.

“For all of our platforms we just wanted to make sure that we talked to administrators, talked to current IUSA members and talked to students and see what their problems are,” Kelty said.

Sophomore Katie Diamond, an audience member, said she was intrigued by the $1 cab rides but wanted more information.

“I would be interested in hearing more about their platform,” she said. “I also want to learn about other tickets when they surface.”

Winning tickets of the past two years, Btown and IU Unity, helped to form the name of the current BtownUnited ticket.

“It’s the continuation of the success of those two tickets,” Kelty said. “A large majority of us have served in both administrations. We just want to signify that we’re continuing on with the experience and the success that we’ve had in the past.”

The ticket is also recognizable by its bright orange color scheme.

“It’s very bright, very noticeable,” Barrett Tenbarge, vice president of administration hopeful, said. “We’ve found out that on a campus of 40,000 kids, it’s hard to try to get everybody’s attention, especially for something like student government. The brighter, and quite frankly, most obnoxious color, really is good because it will help draw attention.”

Students can log onto Btownunited.com for more information.