Hoosiers 4 Solutions has the solutions

The IU Student Association election is Tuesday and Wednesday, and we implore you to vote. Voice your concerns and make your voice heard through your ballot.

After last year’s controversial unopposed election, it’s important for students to make it clear their opinions matter.

The Board had a chance to interview YOUniversity, Hoosiers 4 Solutions and SPARC for IU on March 22.

After hearing from all three groups, The Board has chosen to endorse Hoosiers 4 Solutions.

Of all the parties vying to run IUSA, Hoosiers 4 Solutions is the most in touch with student needs and realistic about their initiatives.

The executive team can represent a wide variety of interests and groups at IU. Here’s why we support them.

NO SALARIES

The current administration allocated some of the budget into $3,000 salaries for executives.

YOUniversity, made up in part of people associated with the current administration, is the only ticket in the race that plans to take salaries.

Hoosiers 4 Solutions and SPARC have pledged not to take executive salaries if elected, instead choosing to put that money back into the funding of initiatives.

Presidential candidate Casey Shelburne said he pays for school himself and understands the need for a job. However, instead of choosing to pay himself, he will begin work as a part-time officer with the IU Police Department come August. We call that dedication.

REALISTIC EXPANSION TO CULTURE OF CARE

Hoosiers 4 Solutions has the most sensible plan for continuing work with this initiative. One of their notable initiatives is to expand the Lifeline Law to include incidents of sexual assault. Underage victims who were sexually assaulted while drinking can still technically be charged with underage drinking in the course of reporting their assault.

Because many sexual assaults happen while either the victim or perpetrator is under the influence of alcohol, this is an important improvement on the current law.

Both Hoosiers 4 Solutions and YOUniversity made the excellent point that the need to pregame and binge drink before tailgates can contribute to student alcohol abuse. However, Hoosiers 4 Solutions’ plan to sell beer and wine at games does more to encourage positive expression of school spirit. Serving beer and wine in the stadium will encourage more people to actually attend games and will help alleviate the need to drink dangerously beforehand.

UNASSOCIATED WITH CURRENT OR PAST IUSA ADMINISTRATIONS

Perhaps they said it best themselves. During our interview, when asked about their lack of experience with previous IUSA administrations, vice president for administration candidate Kelsey Gorman quipped that the “years of experience on other tickets haven’t necessarily amounted to much.”

We agree. Students don’t always feel represented or well served by current and past projects, save a few. We think the unaffiliated nature of Hoosiers 4 Solutions could bring a freshness, lack of bias and practical perspective those associated with past administrations might lack.

STATE-LEVEL CONNECTIONS

We were impressed Hoosiers 4 Solutions has already begun lobbying for many proposed initiatives in state government. Shelburne has already leveraged the contacts he’s made from working for the Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Secretary of State to begin talking about his ticket’s initiatives. Although local work and campus connections are important, to get big laws passed and large changes made, it’s necessary to work at the state level. Hoosiers 4 Solutions has already begun this work, and they’re not even elected yet.

CONCRETE PLANS FOR CONTROLLING COLLEGE COSTS

Controlling college costs is one of the most important issues any ticket must address. Hoosiers 4 Solutions expressed the motivation to advocate for students with the Board of Trustees and the state government. Additionally, they already have plans to reduce both textbook and tuition costs.

They’ve proposed textbook transparency — professors would have to reveal average estimated textbook costs alongside other class information on OneStart.

Moreover, they’ve proposed implementing ways to restructure degree programs and semester lengths to help some students earn degrees in three years. Hoosiers 4 Solutions has expressed interest in working with the IU administration to make these academic changes, which have already been implemented at many other Indiana schools.

FAIR REPRESENTATION

The team has members from The Kelley School of Business and multiple programs within the College of Arts and Sciences. The executive candidates have been involved throughout campus, including in Residence Halls Association, Hutton Honors College, the greek community, multiple academic and ethical fairness committees and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality.

Hoosiers 4 Solutions is a truly varied group. It has strong, practical leadership experience. The candidates can understand the priorities and problems of a wide variety of students here at IU. Out of all of the tickets, we think they best represent us — all of us.