WHY YOU SHOULD CARE THAT IUSA ISN’T DOING ANYTHING

Appearing in Oprah’s “O Magazine” recently was a feature titled “Politics Unusual: 12 Elected and Unelected Officials That Get Things Done.” One of the 12? IU Student Association President Kyle Straub.

Apparently Oprah knows something we don’t, because we’ve seen next to nothing come out of IUSA this year that we would call “done.”

The terms “half-baked” or “lackluster” might be much more applicable.

In the past, we’ve voiced concern about activities undertaken by this year’s IUSA executive officers, including adding their own salaries to the IUSA budget after having been elected unopposed.

Now we wonder what the students of IU have to show for this money. What do we have now that we didn’t have when these individuals took office?

We find the list to be lamentably short.

Among the improvements IUSA cites for their tenure so far is an expanded Culture of Care program.

Yet several individuals said this represents more of a hodge-podge of already available programs that IUSA has laid claim to and slapped its name on than a new resource for the community at large. And no one can really put a finger on what it is, or is supposed to be.

Then last month, IUSA, the self-described “stewards of student money,” denied funding to an organization hoping to bake and sell cupcakes in order to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. We’re not experts, of course, but we say baked goods and a cure for cancer trump the $17,000 budgeted for touch screen “Hoosier info kiosks” any day.

We applaud IUSA and the Union Board for their recent joint town hall meeting.
We hope, in the future, that meetings like this will mold the IUSA agenda into something that represent the concerns of students. But if anything, this meeting served to highlight the issues we find most concerning.

When faced with questions about how they could best address issues raised by student groups that represent a minority of students on campus, like Coal Free IU or Hudson-Holland scholars, IUSA basically said they wouldn’t.

Calling Coal Free IU a “can of worms,” Straub made it clear how he feels about student organizations.

“We must represent the whole,” he said, “We can’t really commit unless a majority of students commit.”

So, we wonder, Straub, if a majority of students are behind an issue, what exactly do they need IUSA for? Surely a majority share of the more than 40,000 students on this campus can get something done without your organization.

Vice President Patrick Courtney seemed to agree when he said approaching the IUSA executives might not be the most efficient strategy for effecting change.