Meet the Ticket: UNIFY for IUSA
Jack Langston, the ticket’s vice president of congress candidate, said the ticket’s platform, 16 by ’16, addresses four major areas: affordability, safety, student empowerment and social ?innovation.
Langston said he hopes to address affordability by eliminate tuition payments for internship credits and donate executive salaries to a textbook fund.
“We’re of the belief that IUSA should be serving the people,” he said. “So every year, $12,000 to $15,000 of the IUSA budget goes to executive salaries. Our party is in it to impact the campus, not to really pad our ?pockets.”
Plans to tackle safety include expanding IU Health Center hours of operation to Sunday and reintroducing IU SafeRide to work with IU Safety Escort.
To address student empowerment, according to the platform, the ticket may expand priority registration status to all veterans and expand free speech zones to the Arboretum.
Plans to tackle social innovation include returning alcohol sales to athletic events and introducing meal points to the Indiana ?Memorial Union.
“I’ve done plenty and plenty of research over IUSA platforms and platforms of different student governments all across this country,” the ticket’s presidential candidate Andrew Ireland said. “I’ve read every article that the IDS has published since 2001 that’s online about IUSA, and I really believe that this may be the most comprehensive and bold plan that’s ever been put out in the last 15 years.”
In recent years, IUSA has faced criticism regarding a lack of student voice. Langston said the ticket aims to increase student voice by filling as many of the more than 60 congressional seats as ?possible.
“We want to make sure every section of campus, whether academic or residential, has the opportunity to voice their opinion,” ?he said.
Langston also said the ticket will make a concerted effort to address student problems rather than just internal concerns.
“You aren’t a leadership body, but a representative body,” Ireland said. “It’s the students’ congress. It’s the students’ association. Whether that’s simply a cultural fix, or actually a systematic fix, through a series of webinars and weekly mailers, I think there are a lot of things you can do.”
For the full platform, ?visit unifyiu.com.
Meet the Candidates
Andrew Ireland, presidential candidate. Ireland is a sophomore studying public finance and journalism with a minor in health systems management.
Goal: “Expanding education opportunity is my primary concern as a student leader and will continue to be if I am fortunate enough to head IUSA. My administration is, and will continue to be, laser-focused on chipping away at the cost of attendance and empowering students through education to make responsible ?financial decisions.”
Mariah Smith, vice president of administration candidate. Smith is a sophomore studying policy analysis with a minor in business.
Goal: “One core goal of mine is to foster a more inclusive and accepting community through education and action-oriented initiatives. It disappoints me that too often we look at crimes and dangerous situations as simply a fact of life here at IU. No place is perfect, but I know student government can play a more active role in enhancing student safety and enriching campus ?culture.”
Jack Langston, vice president of congress candidate. Langston is a freshman studying finance, entrepreneurship and computer science.
Goal: “My biggest priority is to be sure that our ticket unifies the campus as we aim to accomplish our safety, affordability and sustainability objectives. Personally, I would most like to push through our initiatives to promote a healthy and safe student body, by reevaluating aspects of the on-campus healthcare system, SafeRide service, bystander intervention trainings and more.”
Robert Liu, treasurer candidate. Liu is a sophomore studying finance, accounting and mathematics.
Goal: “I plan to hold the treasurer’s office to the highest standards of accountability and to build a quality budget that serves as a planning tool featuring outlays, outputs and, most importantly, outcomes, as opposed to simply blocking expenses.”
The deadline for tickets to formally announce their intention to run is today.
