The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 11, 1994 - 3 "'"". kr'" ~ ~"'0" N' .4 0' *N.'*. N994 Seti Funding, campus safet lead campaign issues By CATHY BOGUSLASKI Daily Staff Reporter Do you know who your student repre- sentatives are? They collect your student fees. They give money to student groups. They say they represent your concerns to the admin- istration. And next week, students like you can choose who they will be for the next year. As the only campus-wide student gov- erning body, the Michigan Student Assem- bly is charged with representing student concerns. The 43 candidates are competing for 23 seats in elections Wednesday and Thurs- day. Polling will take place at sites through- out campus during the two days. Three parties - the Michigan Party, the Students' Party, and the Wolverine Party - are seeking seats for their members. Nine candidates are running as indepen- dents. Campus safety and funding for the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU), top the list of issues in this election. Tenants' Union Funding The most controversial issue facing the assembly this term has been AATU fund- ing. Funding for the tenants' union has been the subject of MSA debate since its first budget meeting Sept. 20. Two parties, the Michigan Party and the Students' Party, have taken opposing posi- tions on the issue of AATU funding. "If it hasn't been clear before this point, it should be now.... The Michigan Party is against the AATU," said Andrew Wright, a ichigan Party candidate. "We are anti- funding the tenants' union with a line item." The tenants' union previously received about -$23,000 from MSA through a line item in its budget. This term, AATU was allocated only $2,000. "If students don't want the tenants' union to have a line item, they should vote for us. If they do want them to have a line item, they shouldn't vote for us," Wright said. Wright is running for re-election as an LSA repre- sentative. The Michigan Party platform says AATU should be required to apply to the assembly's Budget Priorities Committee (BPC) for fund- ing, just as student groups do. The Students' Party supports restoring funding for the tenants' union to original levels, including giving the tenants' union line-item funding. "We would like to see. the AATU re- funded to the full amount," said Students' Party candidate Devon Bodoh. Assembly members asking AATU "to come and beg again for a nominal amount of money" violates MSA's mission to fund student services, Bodoh said. Students' Party candidate Roger De Roo said, "I think the big issue (of this cam- paign) is providing sufficient funding for -0 I .a 14 DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily Who will fill these seats in Michigan Student Assembly chambers? Students will decide by voting in elections Wednesday and Thursday. the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union. It's the one organization on campus that affects even more students than MSA, because everyone has to live somewhere." Michigan Party candidate Sam Morris said he does not support funding AATU through a line-item. "I haven't been able to find two people who have the same idea of what the tenants.' union does," he said. "It seems like they do a lot of things other student organiza- tions and University offices already do." Independent candidate Dave Newberry said AATU should "go the same route" as any other student organization seeking funding. Students' Party candidate Fiona Rose said, "It's important to guarantee funding (to the AATU). Although I'm not sure I fully agree with the line item, ... this is an important group, and it's vital to keep them there for students." Campus Safety Campus safety has always been a concern for MSA, but during the past year Ann Arbor's serial rapist and serial molester have pushed the issue to the forefront. Michigan Party candidate Jeff Brown co- chaired a task force that organized the Cam- pus Safety Walk-Though attended by Univer- sity administrators, city officials, MSA mem- bers and other students. Brown said he hopes to continue his work in this area if he is re- elected. During the walk, participants identified areas on- and off-campus that seemed unsafe. "We're really just getting started," Brown said, adding that the task force still needs to compile data gathered that night before im- provements can be made. Wolverine Party candidate Colleen Flynn said, "Campus safety is a big issue. ... We should walk around campus and find things that need to be improved, and then decide'as a group what should be done." Independent candidate Angie Kelic said she would like to work to improve campus safety on North Campus. "I was with the group (on the walk-through) that tested the emergency phone on Glacier Way and the police did not respond," she said. "We picked .up the phone, and they an- swered, and we didn't respond because you aren't supposed to have to (for police to re- spond to the call). We stood there for 22 minutes and no one ever came," she said. Kelic said she would also like to improve safety in commuter parking lots in that area. Michigan Party candidate Melissa Ander- son said, "I'd like to see MSA encourage student forums so students can learn ways to be more safe and we can learn the issues they're dealing with. I'd like to see the sources we already have on campus, like Safewalk, expanded, especially since it's getting dark earlier here now., Other issues Involving student athletes with the rest of the University, improving meal plans and providing students with some representation on the University Board of Regents are other issues MSA candidates want to address in the coming year. The Students' Party has committed itself to improving the University's atmosphere for students of color. Recruiting and retaining these students, and obtaining tenure for fac- ulty of color should be important issues for MSA, Bodoh said. Rose also said she would like to bring more diversity to the assembly. "Students of color don't realize they too can have a voice in MSA," she said. The Students' Party says they want to give more support to minority organizations on campus. The Michigan Party's platform says the party aims to "involve the student athlete community in University-wide events and decisions." Abel Sanchez, a diver for the University's swimming team and Michigan Party candi- date, said he is running because "student athletes aren't as involved with the school as they should be." Al Lodges, a hockey player and Michigan Party candidate, said he is running to "give student athletes more say in what happens on main campus." Lodges said he will not only try to repre- sent student athletes, but the student body as a whole. Another issue the Students' Party would like to address is the assembly's budget pri- orities. Rose said she would like to examine is the way the assembly spends its money. "Some of the administrative costs could be cut, and some programs slashed. I'd like to look at the lobbyist and see if that's really necessary," she said. Students' Party candidate Jonathan Free- man said, "The assembly needs to be finan- cially responsible. MSA has got to get its affairs together.... It's hard as a representa- tive to say I'd love to so something (for constituents) but we don't have the money because 65 percent of our budget is going just so we can exist. That's not intelligent, and it's not responsible." The Students' Party and the Michigan Party platforms agree on the importance of providing some sort of representation for stu- dents on the Board of Regents. Both groups want to have a student attend Board of Regents meetings. Even if the stu- dent could not vote, party organizers want students to have direct dialogue with the re- gents. Most independent candidates chose not join a party because the party platforms do not reflect their views. Many focus on issues that may be only one aspect of a party's platform, or may not be addressed by parties at all. Kelic, who is seeking re-election as an Engineering representative, said her main is- sue is extending MSA services to North Cam- pus. Increasing funding to Engineering orga- nizations is a priority, she said. Kelic said she would also like to open a North Campus MSA office, to improve stu- dents' access to the assembly. Independent candidate Trevor Hewitt said he wants to reform the University's meal plan system. "I would like to change it so you can pick any meals you want on a meal plan, and if you cancel a plan, you should get 100 percent of your money back, instead of 47 percent," he said. So, do you know who your student repre- sentatives are? You know the issues. You know their names. The ballots arrive next week. Ballot asks students to decide fee increases By CATHY BOGUSLASKI Daily Staff Reporter In times of skyrocketing tuition and fees. it's no surprise that the Michigan Student Assembly's student fee may be on its way up next term. This time, however, students will decide on a possible-fee increase through questions on the MSA ballot. Students can vote in MSA elections Wednesday and Thursday next week. The first ballot question asks if the student fee should be increased by 25 cents to help fund the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU). Funding for the tenants' union has been a divisive issue for the assembly for more than a year. AATU Coordinator Pattrice Mauer said she is confident the fee increase will pass. She claims that MSA funding is the only way the office can continue offering its services to students without a fee. Last year, AATU received about $23,000 from MSA in line-item funding. The assem- bly, in a move spearheaded by Michigan Party members, refused to grant that funding this year. MSA gave the tenants' union only $2,000, a fraction of the interim funding it had requested. AATU had asked the assembly for be- tween $6,000 and $8,000 for interim funding, until a fee increase could be approved by students. The University Board of Regents would have to approve any fee increase before it came into effect. The regents may not approve the fee in- crease because it could violate the University's fee cap said Michigan Party candidate An- drew Wright. A second ballot question asks if the stu- dent fee should be increased by 18 cents for one term. The question, sponsored by LSA Rep. Jonathan Freeman, was intended to re- plenish the general reserve fund after monies were transferred to AATU. Tenants' union supporters in the assembly have failed on several attempts to make this transfer. Freeman said, "(The question's) original purpose and intent were good, but at this point, it's just not needed." He said he would speak to MSA Election Director Christine Young about removing the question from the ballot. Young said the deadline for corrections to the ballot was Nov. 5, and since the ballots have been printed, she is unable to make any changes at this point. These questions are on the ballot: ® Proposal One: "Shall the MSA Fee be increased by $0.25, effective at the beginning of the Winter term of 1995, for the exclusive purpose of funding the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union? U Proposal Two: "Shall the MSA student fee be raised for one academic term by $0.18 to go directly to the general reserve fund?" Facing low voter turnout, candidates struggle to gain students' attention By CATHY BOGUSLASKI Daily Staff Reporter Next week, 23 new representatives will be elected to represent students on the Michigan student Assembly. However, if history is any indication, these student "representatives" will be chosen in elections where less than 10 percent of the student body vote. LSA junior Kate Epstein said she does not vote in MSA elections because "No. 1, I don't and vice president are chosen. All registered students are eligible to vote, but turnout in any MSA election has rarely exceeded 10 percent of students. "We're trying to advertise," MSA Election Director Christine Young said. "We're hoping to get a good turnout. ... (But) the apathy of students is remarkable. They don't know who's running, they don't care and they don't think MSA has anything to do with them. "I may have my election staff go into the If 18,000 people turned out to vote, I don't think MSA could handle it. We're not printing that many ballots. I wish we had that problem." MSA candidates give many reasons that students should be actively involved in choos- ing who represents them. Michigan Party candidate Adam Clampitt said, "On average we get about 8 to 10 percent turnout, which is about equivalent to what students vote in the general elections." "The University affects the lives of all _________________________ ow' " ./.'Y4~,.