Campaigning and Crises

It was mid-February in 2009. I was in heat of the NISG elections. I spent my days monitoring the campaign and the nights speaking with student groups. It was a crazy time in my life. This particular day, I was poring over my and my opponent's platform, comparing ideas and taking notes. They wanted meal plans in the Union, new majors, and longer Panther Shuttle hours. We wanted to go green and to get rid of taxes on textbooks.

That's when the crisis hit. The Regents had cut $8.8 million from UNI.

We went into emergency mode. Adam and Jake overhauled their platform. We tweaked ours. Everyone wanted to know how we'd handle the cuts. The University was shocked too. Budgets were slashed and services ended. This was the new era of UNI. We had to do the most with the limited money that was left. No more grand, expensive ideas.

Today, not much has changed. House File 45 (which NISG has been lobbying against) would cut $10 million from the Regents this year and $15 million next year. This drastically changes the way candidates and forced to campaign and develop their platforms. It always sounds good to talk about new services, but can they actually become a reality? 

So, as you look to the candidates' platforms next week, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Are the ideas affordable? (Hint: Meal plans in the Union are always a popular item. They will not happen. Ever.)
• Do the candidates address handling the budget cuts?
• Are there any innovative approaches to dealing with the University being forced to downsize?

Whichever tickets can answers those questions best is the one to pay attention to. Expensive, unrealistic ideas may sound good, but they'll quickly become a thing of the past once the newly elected candidates are forced to deal with the realities of the University.