LIVE VIDEO BLOG

In case you can't make it to the Union tonight, the NISG blog team will be covering the announcement. Starting at 7pm we'll be talking about how the campaign has gone, interview the candidates, and give our predictions for results.

Heres the link:

Live video from your iPhone using Ustream

VOTE

After two weeks of campaigning, voting finally begins. Ballots were officially posted at 6 this morning. Make sure to go to myUNIverse and cast your ballot for Student Body President and Vice President. I just cast my ballot, and it took around 30 seconds. So head to the Union voting stations, or just get on your computer. VOTE.

The Final Push

With less than 15 hours before voting officially begins, we’re at the final push for each of the candidates. Last night, I attended meetings where both Trevor and Jordan made appearances, which means that I’ve seen all three tickets speak at a student organization. In all 3 meetings, the presidential tickets were quite strong. Each commanded the attention of the room and spoke with authority. These are good qualities and signs that no matter who wins, UNI students will be lucky enough to have a representative that truly cares about the position.

All three tickets have now sponsored Facebook Events to vote for them. Let’s take a look at the overall count for these groups and for the pages they all created on the first day of campaigning.

Kyle & Brendan Page Likes: 261 Event: 81

Jordan & KaLeigh Page Likes: 189  Event: 159    

Trevor & Beth Page Likes: 131  Event:  92

Keep in mind the difference between these two types of Facebook counts. With a Facebook Page, it’s harder to get a massive amount of likes because users can’t invite people to like it. Or at least, they won’t be notified regarding their invitation. Facebook Events, however, are much different. When someone is invited to an event they are immediately notified that someone invited them and can easily give their RSVP. Page likes typically come from students that are actively following the campaign. The casual student that isn’t following this blog or the campaign most likely isn’t going to click a like button, or even be aware of it’s existence. Usually, the students that like the pages and follow the campaign are the ones that persuade the casual students into voting for a particular candidate.

That being said, I’m really confused with the numbers above. Kyle & Brendan are handsomely winning the “like” race. Typically, that’s a good indication of the number of supporters they have that are passionate about their ticket. However, they’re struggling in the event count. Although their event went up days after Trevor & Beth’s and hours after Jordan & KaLeigh’s, I expected a much bigger count given their Page success.

It’s possible that this event count is just a fluke. Maybe it’s because they invited nearly half as much as the other tickets, or that their supporters simply haven’t checked Facebook since 10:45 last night. However, if I’m Kyle & Brendan, I’m not going to rely on the above two reasons. It’s possible that this marks a turning of the tide. Joel’s endorsement and the vigorous campaigning that we’ve seen out of Jordan & KaLeigh’s camp might be catching up to them. Kyle & Brendan need to address this, and try reaching more students before voting starts tomorrow.

With the Facebook tallies unclear at the moment, one thing is clear. All three candidates are on a full out sprint to the finish line. Trevor & Beth are giving out Scratch cupcakes tonight, all 3 candidates have a presence in the Union, and I’d expect that none will get too much sleep over the next 72 hours.

Stay tuned to the NISGelections.com blog for more analysis and announcements. Soon, we’ll post information to access our LIVE video blog of election night.

Last Night’s Endorsement and How the Race is Shaping Up

In case you missed it, former Student Body President Joel Anderson endorsed Jordan & KaLeigh. He cites their NISG experience and job readiness, "if it started today". Among other things, he also touched on the difficulties of the position as student body president, which is something I hope all 3 candidates take to heart.

So how important is Joel's endorsement? Joel was and continues to be the strongest student leader on campus. He's well respected by the faculty and even more by his fellow students, indicated by the fact that he was unchalleneged in his bid for Student Body President. I'm lucky enough to be a member of many organizations with Joel and can say that his reputation is very real. Particularly in CATS and Sigma Phi Epsilon, his opinion matters and he has changed both organizations for the better.

How does this affect each ticket? Obviously, this was a huge boost for Jordan and KaLeigh. Their ticket has been touting NISG experience throughout this campaign and has it's support coming primarly from NISG'ers. Joel's endorsement solidifies that Jordan and KaLeigh are the choice of NISG insiders.

While the news hurts Trevor & Beth and Kyle & Brendan, it's not cause to abandon ship. I've said it from day one and I'm going to continue to say it, Trevor & Beth have The Cult behind them. Their campaign was created within the walls of Campbell Hall, and I am not convinced that the opinion of a non-Cult member will matter too much. Expect them to handily win the 300-400 Cult votes that will be cast. Where this hurts them is outside of Campbell. 300-400 votes will not be enough to win, or make it to a run off. Trevor and Beth need other places to garner votes, and this endorsement makes that task much more difficult.

As far as Kyle & Brendan go, this endorsement slows their roll a bit. Although they don't have many NISG'ers behind them, they are quietly becoming front runners. They have a handsome lead in the Facebook group count, beating the other tickets with 255 "likes" (the other tickets have yet to crack 200). Remember, having NISG behind you doesn't mean an automatic victory. Ask 2008 winners Cezar-Lobdell whose opinion really matters, they'll probably tell you this.

Ultimately I think this endorsement puts Jordan & KaLeigh on the same level as Kyle & Brendan, with Trevor & Beth lurking closely behind. This election is going to be a tight one. In the end, I think it comes down to who wants it more. Which candidate is willing to stand outside asking for votes from 8am-10pm on election days? The bell lap of this campaign season is here. Stay tuned to the NISGelections blog as we break down the final pushes, voting, and the announcment.

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Senate Race

We continue our coverage of the NISG Senate race with candidate profiles for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Andrew Miller
Classification: Senior
Major: Political Science and Public Administration
Other activities: VP of Political Science Society, American Democracy Project, Center for Internaional Peace and Security Studies, One Iowa, Northern Iowa Democrats, Wellness and Recreation Student Advisory Board

3 Goals if Elected
1. Make the New York Times permanently available for students
2. Push for tuition-offset grants for Iowa Board of Regents students to address student loan debts.
3. Create a more functional NISG website by means of hiring an additional webmaster and increased budget.

David Pope
Classification: Sophomore
Major: Political Communication
Other Activities:  Executive member of UNI Proud, UNI Feminist Action League, UNI Transgenda, Women's History Month Committee, and Occupy Cedar Valley

3 Goals if Elected
1. Establishing an LGBT center on campus that could provide institutional support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.
2. Extend and expand diversity and cultural competency training for all UNI faculty and staff so they know how to interact with people of all sexualities, gender identities, races, and ethnic backgrounds.
3. Push NISG to take a stronger stance against tuition increases

Eric Boisen
Classification: Freshman
Major: Political Science
Other Activities: UNI Men's Glee Club and Vocal AmmUNItion

3 Goals if Elected
1. Try to keep students on campus on the weekends
2. Make the funding process easier for students
3. Be transparent with CSBS students by having office hours and regularly listening to their concerns

Jared Parker (Incumbent, Current CSBS Senator)
Classification: Senior
Major: History and Political Science
Other Activities: Chair of NISG Governmental and Legislative Affairs Committee, Deputy Speaker, Pi Kappa Alpha, former President of UNI History Club, Knights of Columbus, Chair and Vice Chair of UNI College Republicans, IFC VP of Administration, Order of Omega, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Phi Alpha Theta

3 Goals if Elected
1. Push issues that benefit students such as a sales tax holiday for textbooks.
2. Ensure students are as politically active as possible
3. Push for generous, but fair, funding for student organizations

Devin Davis (Current Rider Hall Senator)
Classification: Junior
Major: Political Science and Psychology
Other Activities: NI Democrats, Students for Obama, and Model United Nations

3 Goals if Elected
1. More communication between NISG and the student body
2. Stronger relations between the state government and UNI
Although these are only two goals, they are broad, long term goals that I feel will take up the majority of my time as a senator.

Margaret Nervig
Classification: Senior
Major: History
Other Activities: UNIFI, Former President of UNI Harry Potter Club, History Club, Colleges Against Cancer- Team Recruitment, and studying abroad.

3 Goals if Elected
1. Make NISG more available to the student body
2. More assistance for new student organizations. Perhaps partner them with an existing organization to help them establish themselves.
3. Increased recycling efforts at Dashes and Cafe on the Way.

BREAKING NEWS: Former Student Body President Joel Anderson Endorses Jordan & KaLeigh

Greek Life and NISG

As a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, the subject of Greek Life is something that is very near and dear to me.  I was glad to see that both Kyle and Brendan and Jordan and KaLeigh had sections in their platforms regarding Greek Life. At first, I was a little worried that they just included a plank on the subject to try to win votes from the Greeks on campus, since none of the candidates are actually Greek themselves. After reading through their platforms, I quickly realized that even though they are not Greek themselves, both tickets see the benefits of having Greek Life on campus and have a fairly good understanding of the state of Greek Life at UNI.

Kyle and Brendan’s platform touches on the importance of having a strong Greek community on campus and how it benefits the university. Their main goal with Greek Life is to increase collaboration and communication between the Greek community and NISG. To accomplish this they plan to continue the use of a Director of Greek Affairs - Fraternities and Director of Greek Affairs -Sororities.

Jordan and KaLeigh’s platform goes more in depth about the challenges facing the Greek community and their plans on overcoming these challenges. They also plan to continue the use of the Director of Greek Affairs position, but they want to make a change to the way this Director is selected. They would like to include Greek leaders in the selection process so that the most effective person for the job can be chosen.

During Monday’s debate, an excellent question was asked: “What is the outlook on Greek Life on Campus?” Kyle was the first to answer on this question. He pointed out that the Greek community at UNI is different than the Greek communities at the other state universities. Our Greek community is “small but mighty.” He then continued to point out the many ways Greek Life benefits campus and said that he wants to have better collaboration between NISG and the Greek community since Greeks are so involved on campus. It was clear that he had taken time to consider the position the Greek community is in and had thought about how to create a more mutually beneficial relationship between the Greek community and NISG. Trevor was the next person to answer the question. Now, even though Trevor and Beth did not include a Greek Life plank in their platform, it does not necessarily mean that it is something they haven’t thought about. During the debate they pointed out that they have a shorter platform than the other tickets because they only wanted to include items they believed they could actually accomplish if elected. Since it was not included in their platform, I was excited to hear their thoughts on Greek Life, but when Trevor answered the question, I could tell that it was something they hadn’t put much thought into. Trevor just said “Greek Life is great” and then proceeded to talk about how they support all student organizations that want to accomplish something. For me, this answer was a bit of a letdown. KaLeigh was the last candidate to get to address the question. For someone who isn’t Greek, she had a really good idea of what is going on in the Greek community. She pointed out how Greeks set a great example on campus through their involvement. Their ticket realizes that one of the biggest problems for the Greek community is their perceived isolation from the rest of the student body. They plan to help correct this issue by having NISG work with the Greek community more to support Greek goals and initiatives. 

I also believe that a closer relationship between NISG and the Greek community would benefit both parties. Regardless of who wins the election, I hope that the relationship between NISG and Greeks grows over the next year. I thoroughly encourage all Greeks to read the Greek Life sections of the tickets’ platforms and ask the candidates questions about their views on Greek Life in order to make an informed decision on election day.

The College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences Senate Race

We begin our coverage of the 2012 NISG Senate Race coverage with the largest and most competitive Senate race in recent NISG memory. In the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, there are eight candidates (and one bird) vying for five spots. I asked the candidates to some preliminary questions in order to get some background information on them, and here is what I got.

Jordan Wilmes

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Biology

Other Involvement: Tri-Beta, American Chemical Society, and Honors Student Advisory Board.

3 Goals if Elected

1. Increase NISG awareness

2. Simplify the funding process

3. Work for healthier alternative food options in the dining centers

Blake Findley (Current Senator for the College of Education)

Classification: Junior

Major: Psychology & Spanish

Other Involvement: Campbell Hall President, Co-Chair for Leadership Development for the SLC, Vice-Chair of NISG Student Affairs Committee, and academic beat writer for the NI.

3 Goals if Elected

1. To perfect the funding process

2. Increase the lines of communication between the senate, executive branch, UNI faculty and staff, and, most importantly, the students

3. Work for more NISG outreach and programs such as the New York Times, Panther Picnic, and Voterpalooza

Tucker Olson

Classification: Junior

Major: Political Science and Spanish

Other Involvement: UNI Men’s Glee Club, UNI Proud, German Club, Honors Program, RHA, Sissy’s Sircus, Model United Nations, Culture and Intensive English Program, and Campbell Hall Senate

3 Goals if Elected

1. Increase involvement of those not traditionally represented in NISG including underclassmen, LGBT, racial minorities, veterans, and those with disabilities.

2. Lobby government officials to hear the UNI student body’s voice

3. Be official liaison to the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences with the administration and students.

Christina Johnson (Incumbent, Current Senator for College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences)

Classification: Junior

Major: Spanish

Other Involvement: HSAB Programming Coordinator, President of International Court of Justice of Iowa High School Model United Nations, Director of UNI Model Team, and Sigma Delta Pi

3 Goals if Elected

1. Be the voice of students in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences

2. Increase student involvement, particularly freshman, in NISG.

3. Increase lobbying efforts to governmental officials.

Alicia Jessip

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Spanish & Communication/Electronic Media

Other Involvement: NISG Director of Diversity, Student Admissions Ambassadors, Alpha Delta Pi, Dance Marathon Committee, UNI Proud, Black Student Union, Hispanic Latino Student Union

3 Goals if Elected

1. Increased student involvement, particularly for underclassman

2. Increased representation for diverse student groups and organization, including actual discussion on how to make UNI a more inclusive place

3. Be an available representative for the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences

Connor Ave

Classification: Sophomore

Major: All Science Teaching

Other Involvement: Sigma Phi Epsilon, UNI Debate Team, and UNI Tae Kwon-Do club

3 Goals if Elected

1. Increase the sense of community at UNI. This includes changing the DOR’s (horrible, in this bloggers opinion) posting policy to help organization events (such as CAB) flourish.

2. Get students actively involved in the decision making at this university

3. Make sure all student organizations are treated, and funded, fairly

Jordan Leckband

Classification: Senior

Major: Music Education: Choral/General

Other Involvement: Vice President of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, American Choral Directors Association, Iowa Bandmasters Associations, UNI Men’s Glee Club, UNI Concert Chorale, and UNI Pep Band

3 Goals if Elected

1. Making funding easier for student organizations

2. Advocate for student performances -- not only sports, but visual art exhibits, theater productions, and music performances.

3. Give CHAS a more community feel with common goals, so it's more than just 14 different departments with 70 different majors

Stacey Lynne Howes

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Biology

Other involvement: Lawther Senate, Ultimate Frisbee Club, TOMS, Tri-Beta, and Undergraduate Research

3 Goals if Elected
1. Provide students with more ways to get involved on campus and in their major.
2. Increasing communication between constituents and their senators
3. Make the funding process simpler and more available for the student body to understand.

Website Analysis: Trevor and Beth

This is the third in a series of three posts analyzing campaign websites. 

Address: www.trevorandbeth.com

Trevor and Beth have a website with a design that is refreshing and different than what is generally seen. Rather than having a solid background with a photo on a banner or in a post, the background is a photo of the candidates with solid islands of information over top.  Their website is hosted by GoDaddy and created using GoDaddy's built-in website creator, WebSite Tonight. 

The color scheme of the website is the classic purple and yellow as seen on many campaign websites of the present and past. I would be all in favor of them channeling their panther pride, but the pair uses blues and aquas for all of the rest of their campaign material (posters, t-shirts, buttons, etc.). The difference in color schemes makes the branding feel slightly disjointed.

One big and necessary change Trevor and Beth's webmaster made after the initial launch was the elimination of Flash-based content. Prior to the update it was not possible to link to specific pages on the website, and visitors were unable to scroll on pages when viewing the site on a mobile device.  Now visitors can directly link to the separate pages of the website and the scrolling issue is no longer a problem.

What They're Doing Well

• Videos - This is the only one of the three presidential tickets that has decided to use video as a means to reach out to students. Not only have Trevor and Beth developed a YouTube channel (that unfortunately isn't branded), but they have a page on their site dedicated to the videos they post on the channel. They have been consistently putting out videos, and even uploaded a response to a student's video. One of the things they would like to do while in office is post a weekly NISG video blog, and this is a great start to that. It shows they are serious about that particular plank.
• Voting Information - While it isn't much, Trevor and Beth are the only candidates to have the voting dates and a link to MyUNIverse on their website. It's one of the first things visitors see when they visit the campaign site, so it serves as a great reminder for people to vote.

What They Could Do Better

• Color Scheme/Branding - As I mentioned above, it would be nice to see a consistent color scheme across all of their campaign materials. It would also be nice to see a consistent typeface across the board. To my knowledge, there has not been a ticket in at least the past five years that hasn't used at least purple or gold/yellow in their color scheme. This ticket should take advantage of the unique and memorable color scheme that is different than what students are accustomed to seeing.
• Social Media - At first glance, the three icons on each page of the Trevor and Beth website look like links to their Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace(?!). However, they are just links to share the page on those social media sites. Upon examining their site, I found links to their Twitter and Facebook at the bottom of their platform, which isn't a very visible location. There is also a new addition of their Twitter feed on the Campaign Videos page. I would suggest changing the location of the feed to somewhere more visible because a visitor won't see the feed unless they scroll down the page. Adding links to these social media outlets on the home page as well as the contact page would be a small, but helpful improvement.
• Platform - A small usability improvement for site viewers would be to move the link to download the platform from the bottom of the platform page to the top. There is also a lot of unnecessary paragraph spaces between each of the platform planks. By removing the excess space the readability of the page would be improved.

Overall Thoughts
Trevor and Beth have a couple of unique aspects on their site that set it apart from the others.  My favorite thing is that they are actively using video as a medium.  If they add and change the location of some links, they'll have a great site.

Debate Highlights

Well, the debate between the presidential tickets is over, and the biggest surprise of the night was that the ground was covered in snow when I left the Union. While all of the candidates carried themselves well, they mostly stuck to information from their platforms when answering questions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since their platforms encompass what they plan to do and hope to achieve during their time in office. But since they didn’t stray too far from this information throughout the night, I felt that the debate lacked any flair that made candidates stick out. No one ticket really separated itself from the others in a major way or came across as the clear “winner” of tonight’s debate. This may be due to the format of the debate itself. It was more a moderated forum than an actual debate. Because of this, none of the tickets got the opportunity to directly demonstrate how they differentiate themselves from the other tickets. 

One thing that this debate did allow the candidates to show us was how comfortable they are speaking in front of groups. The president and vice president serve as the face and voice of the student body. To successfully accomplish this objective, public speaking skills are absolutely critical. While none of the candidates had poor public speaking skills, I really feel that Kyle established himself as the best speaker in the group. This is likely due to his experience as president of Student Admissions Ambassadors. While Kyle seemed natural up on the stage, Brendan seemed less engaged during the debate, and Kyle would often step in to elaborate on Brendan’s comments. Jordan and KaLeigh both seemed very comfortable speaking in front of a large group as well. Trevor and Beth impressed me by being the only candidates to stand up while speaking. This gave them a bit of an edge that seemed to keep the audience’s attention on them. Trevor did not have any problems speaking, but he seemed to take a back seat multiple times during the debate and let his sister do the majority of the talking. 

The opening remarks section of the debate seemed slightly awkward, as none of the candidates spoke on their platforms or what they hope to accomplish in office. They merely told us a little about who they are and what they were involved with on campus. The real opening comments came in response to the first question asked by the moderators. The question was “What are three things you think should be available to every student at UNI, and how will you make sure students have access to it?” This gave us a chance to hear from the candidates what they found important and what they would do for the student body if elected, although the answers all seemed very vague and similar to the other tickets answers. A question from current Student Body President Spencer Walrath about how candidates planned to work with senate allowed Jordan and KaLeigh to stick out by showing their familiarity with senate operations. This is also where Kyle first mentioned collaboration through communication, which became a common saying from him for the rest of the debate. As the debate moved into questions from the audience, there were very few questions that provided us with opportunity for the candidates to speak on anything new. Most of their responses came straight from information in their platforms.

The closing comments section of the debate was a very important portion of the debate because it let the candidates leave us with something to remember them by. Kyle did a great job of hitting on the points he made about the three things that he felt students should have access to. This allowed him to establish a theme for his ticket and let us know what he hopes to do for the student body. It was also good to hear him say they even though he and Brendan are both athletes, they are students first. This helped to alleviate some of the worries that have been expressed about their time constraints from participating in track. Jordan made some good comments about what he would do for the student body, and KaLeigh did a great job of closing their thoughts by bringing up the feasibility and realism of their platform. She also encouraged everyone to be as informed as possible before voting. 

While tonight’s debate did not have a clear winner, it allowed us to become more familiar with the candidates and their platforms. It was really nice to have all three tickets in the same place at the same time. For more detailed information on tonight’s debate check out Chris Miller's live blogging of the debate. I encourage everyone to learn as much as possible about the candidates and their platforms and keep checking in with us for campaign coverage.

Live Blogging the Debate

Jeff Harms, Joel Anderson, & The Panther Pundit are sitting next to me contributing their thoughts all night. 


7:02pm : Everyone is here. Everyone is excited. Trevor was just caught singing Billy Joel. Although, it's not as good as KaLeigh's rendition of "Build Me up Buttercup".

Joel's comments on Jordan's outfit, "If you took a picture of him and made it black and white he would look like an 1890s Iron Tycoon. He has the pocket watch and everything! I just imagined a political cartoonist turning him into a giant bag of money! It's a good look on him"

7:07pm: John Anderson begins with the format of the debate. First it will begin with opening statements, then moderator questions, then questions form the audience, then closing statements.

7:08pm: All the candidates open up with their credentials.

The Election Commissioner points out that, "It's strange that they aren't talking about their platforms. Just their credentials."

7:12pm 


What are three things that you think should be available to every student at UNI? How you will assure that students have access to it?


Trevor/ Beth:
1. A great education.
2. Access to Student Leaders.
3. A great experience at UNI.

Jordan/KaLeigh:
1. Students know what resources are available for them.
2. Increase NISG awareness.
3. Create a community for students.

Kyle/Brendan:
1. Quality Education
2. Access to Resources
3. Enjoyable Experience.

A lot of these answers are the same. The candidates don't seem to separate themselves from each other yet. Jeff points out that Brendan was the only candidate not to speak on that question.

What are your stances on the changes that President Allen announced may be made in the coming years?

Jordan/KaLeigh:
Cuts are necessary. Most important to UNI is academics. Not sure what we can directly do to influence the cuts.

Kyle/Brendan:
Budget cuts suck. We'll have to measure our resources and try to fit them into our three objectives from above. We want to be the voice of the students.

Trevor/Beth:
We want to fight for students, especially in academics. We would fight for all the other programs too, but recognize that athletics CAN be cut.

They all seem to put academics first. But disagree on the point of athletics.
       
Who have you met in the University administration about your platform?


Kyle/Brendan:
We meet with students first. Joel says, "sounds like a very Cezar-Lobdell response".

Trevor/Beth:
We have put the most thought into this. We have the most concise and realistic platform.

Jordan/KaLeigh:
We spoke with the people involved with Veteran affairs, Disability students, and the director of dining.

None of the candidates seemed to drop many names with people they worked with.

From Spencer Walrath- How will candidates work with Senate?


Trevor/Beth:
Communication. Communication. Communication. Communication.
Also add humor to instense situations. Perhaps like this video?

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/15/is-this-the-funniest-youtube-video-ever/

Jordan/KaLeigh:
Senate is their own voice. We want to collaborate to accomplish the same goals.

Kyle/Brendan:
We have the same goal as the Senate. We want to communicate with them and create a professional and personal relationships with them.

I think that Kyle and KaLeigh are huge winners in that one. They seemed to be speaking to the students, not just the moderators.

How do the tickets plan on lobbying more effectively and keep tuition down?


Jordan/KaLeigh:
The reason the Iowa Legislature doesn't care about us is because we don't vote in the elections. We want to increase the voters. We want to have freshman register to vote at orientation. (Joel points out that this is the only fresh idea that we've heard on lobbying).

Kyle/Brendan:
We want students to write letters, visit the capital, and voice their opinions to the government. We need students to vote if we are going to be properly representatives.

Trevor/Beth (I just realized that they are the only candidates that are still standing when they speak)
We want to hire the best Director of Governmental Relations possible, so that they can do the best job in the Capital.

What do you think about Greek  Life on campus?


Kyle/Brendan:
We can't make our Greek Life comparable to ISU and UI. But we're UNI, we're unique and we have a unique Greek life.
"Greek are small but mighty"-Kyle Burns
We want to collaborate more with NISG and Greeks on campus.

Trevor/Beth:
Greek like is.. Great!
We should always encourage student organizations to grow and be awesome.

Jordan/KaLeigh:
We have Greeks included on our platform. We don't like that they are separated from the campus. We want to work with IFC and Panhel to pick our Greek cabinet positions on campus.

Now we are taking questions from the audience


7:54pm "How will you spend the rest of your campaign funds"- Laura Castro

Kyle/Brendan- We funded this all ourselves. But any extra will be donated.
Trevor/Beth- We are donating all extra shirts to kids in Nicaragua.
Jordan/KaLeigh- If we win, we are going to use it to pay for travel to Des Moines. If we lose, we'll donate our money

7:56pm "I spoke with the Veterans Affairs student organization and they said that there is no communication between NISG and the Organization. How will you change this?"

Jordan/KaLeigh: We will use the lower cabinet to do that and pass bills like I sponsored last week with Jared Parker. Which pledged to dedicate more resources to Veterans.

7:58pm "What are you tangibly going to do to help diversity on campus?"

Trevor/Beth: We will create a diversity student advisory board.

8:00pm "What haven't Trevor and Beth filled the open Campbell Hall seat in NISG Senate"

Trevor/Beth: Trevor is busy with other things and wants to put his full effort in it. Beth is secretary of Campbell Hall Senate.

8:04pm "What are your thoughts on a LGBTQ center on campus?"

Jordan/KaLeigh: Awesome. Letsdoit.

Kyle/Brednan: We are going to meet with the LGBTQ students first (which is happening week) before we come up with solutions. We need to know the problems first.

Trevor/Beth:  LGBTQ are students too. So they will get the same treatment.

8:17pm "Sometimes it's difficult to hang posters in the DOR because of their policies"- KaLeigh
No kidding. The DOR posting policy is impossible. Joel says, "It's killing student organizations like CAB and Panther Productions". I agree. DOR, if you're listening. Help students out.

8:18pm On how the debate is going so far, Jeff says, "So far the (audience) questions are things that could have been answered by reading through the platforms. The candidates are really going much further past their platforms in this debate. I don't see a common theme from any of the tickets"

8:20pm Throughout this entire debate, Trevor and Beth have been the only candidates to stand up while speaking. This gave them a huge advantage. It drew my eyes to them throughout and forced me to watch them while they spoke.

8:22pm Closing statements are going to begin

Kyle/Brendan
Thanks for coming out to this. We really appreciate it. We firmly stand for the three things at the beginning.
1. Quality Education
2. Access to Resources
3. Enjoyable Time at UNI
We are students first, not athletes. We put our academics first and will continue to do that if we win.

Trevor/Beth
We like all the other tickets, it's been fun. We thank everyone. We want to lead this campus.

Jordan/KaLeigh
Thanks to everyone (including me!). KaLeigh thinks that they have the best platform and wants everyone to get informed before they vote.

Live Streaming and Live Blogging the Debate!!

The debate is about to start!

You can watch it live here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nisgmoderator

If you can't watch it, stay tuned to the blog. I'll be live blogging it!

Bancroft-Smithe responds to Miller on CBA supplemental tuition

The following is a letter from presidential candidate Jordan Bancroft-Smithe in response to Chris Miller's earlier post about CBA supplemental tuition.

Last week, Chris Miller posted on this blog about our platform plank relating to differential tuition rates for the College of Business Administration. I would like to note some changes we will be making to our plank in response to Chris’ post. The main thing we needed to change is the tone of the plank. It comes across as if we are attacking the CBA and their policy of differential tuition. Specifically speaking, I am referring to the word “audit.” To audit somebody, or to be audited, has negative connotations, and because of this I understand Chris’ reaction. We are not saying that the CBA is doing a poor job of providing for its students, but rather that there are students that are not seeing or noticing these promised services. The point of this would be, as Chris put it himself talking about one of our other planks, “showing students what is going on without them having to take the proactive approach of searching for it.” We would be taking that proactive approach and get that information for the students.

Secondly, in our plank we ask the question, “What is our* extra $1,500 going towards?” I feel like there are several questions inherent within that question. By not mentioning these questions, I added to the confusion and the feeling that the plank was attacking the CBA’s differential tuition policy. I apologize for not making these questions explicit, and they will be included into our platform. We are not just asking, “What is our extra $1,500 going towards?” We are also asking, “How well is that extra $1,500 being spent? Are class sizes going down? Are new hires being used to replace the loss of adjuncts? Are new courses being added?” This is something that is important for the students to know and we believe that it should remain on our platform. It has been three years since this policy of differential tuition was put in place and we think that students, especially those who were here before the implementation of differential tuition, should be able to see what the CBA has been able to do with the supplemental money. 

Now to address some of the things that Chris said that I feel are inaccurate or beside the point. The first being that he called us out on calling it differential tuition when, as it clearly states in the link he provided that it is called “supplemental tuition.” You may have noticed that I am still referring to is as differential tuition and this is because “differential tuition” and “supplemental tuition” are one in the same. Iowa State calls the similar program in their College of Business and College of Engineering “Differential Tuition.” And if you go to their engineering program’s site it clearly states that “Differential tuition, sometimes referred to as supplemental tuition or a tuition surcharge…” in the beginning of the second paragraph. “Supplemental Tuition” is the name that UNI and the CBA gave to a differential tuition policy.

The second issue I have is with what he said about refilling positions. Currently, as is stated in UNI’s master agreement article five: section five, UNI holds a policy of attrition. As it was explained to me, when a faculty member leaves, their position is not refilled. Instead the position is removed, it is taken into review, and then the administration decides whether or not to reinstate that position. This can lead to the perception of positions not being refilled because this process can take time, or this could also mean that the positions are being eliminated. Either way, having a report that is accessible to the students showing that these positions are being kept, filled, and are making classes smaller would be most beneficial. I can’t see why Dean Farzad Moussavi would be opposed to this. If we find that this information is already available, then we should work with Dean Moussavi and the CBA to get this information to the students. 

Finally, I want to address the percentage quotes that he provides from the CBA website. While those numbers are nice, they don’t tell the whole story. Chris has told me that the information I would be looking for, which is a complete breakdown of where the supplemental dollars are going, is available and Dean Moussavi has already provided it to the CBA Presidents Council. The problem with this then becomes that the information on those reports wasn’t readily available to the students who are not a part of that council. Part of what we want to do is to gather all of this information into a single, easy to read report that will be available to the students of the CBA.

To conclude, I would like to commend Chris and the other writers of the blog. This shows that the blog is doing its job by making sure that the candidates stay both honest and realistic in this race. It’s great that there are people out there double checking our facts and it proves that the blog is a necessary component of this process.

*”Our” is referring to the students in the CBA

Vote for Colombo?

Last week, the Election Commission received a very peculiar petition for a name to appear on this year's ballot for NISG.

Meet Colombo. For those of you who don't recognize this face, Colombo is the African Grey Parrot in the UNI Botanical Center. Colombo's hobbies include perching on the above branch, climbing around her cage, and even doing a spot on impression of the preserves manager, Billie Hammer. This year, Colombo received 56 signatures in her quest to represent the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences in NISG Senate. This isn't the frist animal to try doing the improbable, though. In the 80s, "Ally the Alligator" almost won many elections.

This afternoon, I met Colombo's director of Public Relations, Eric Moellers, to discuss Colombo's political aspirations. I met Eric in the Green House, which was a new experience for me. The Green House is located right next to Wright Hall, and I must say, it is an amazing place. As a student, I knew that my tuition and fees funded the Green House but I never had taken the time to visit. Not only did I regret my decision to never make a visit, I plan on stopping by whenever I can in the future. The Green House has multiple environments that host almost every plant imaginable. Bananas, cacti, and bamboo are just some of the unique plants that I saw today.

I also got the chance to interview Colombo. Although she was disappointed to not make the ballot, as she didn't meet the GPA requirement, she assured me that her write-in cannidacy is in full swing. Planks are on her platform included permanently bringing the New York Times to campus, increasing awareness for the Green House, and lowering tuition.

With 8 people on the ballot for 5 seats, Colombo is going to have a tough time winning the election. However, if any bird is going to have her day, it's going to be Colombo. I hope that all of you take the chance to visit Colombo, and the Green House. The people there are fantastic and they would love to give you a tour. After all, it's funded through YOUR tuition dollars. It is open 8-4 from Monday-Friday. All you need to do is walk in and ask for a tour.

Stay tuned to the Blog tonight for coverage of the Debate, too!!

Debate tonight!

The three presidential tickets will be debating tonight at 7 p.m. in the Maucker Union Coffeehouse. Come and listen as candidates discuss their platforms and answer questions from me and co-moderator Michael Lunn. There will be time for questions from the audience, so come prepared with questions.

Commissioner names senate candidates

Thirty minutes ago, Election Commissioner Jill Hohnecker released the names of the presidential and senatorial candidates who will appear on the ballot at the end of the month. All three known presidential tickets got the 150 signatures necessary to get on the ballot, and there will be contested elections for a total of eight seats -- three for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and five for the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences. While it's unsurprising to see uncontested elections in the Graduate College, the College of Education (which is traditionally underrepresented, though failing to get a single name on the ballot is a surprise), and the Undecided/General Studies seats, I find it surprising to see only two names for the College of Business Administration, especially considering the absence of the current CBA senator, Evan Cruise. I also find it interesting that only six of the 18 senatorial candidates currently serve on senate, meaning that we could see a large turnover in next year's senate.

Here's the list of candidates who will be on the ballot:

President and Vice President
Jordan Bancroft-Smithe and KaLeigh White
Trevor Monnier and Beth Monnier
Kyle Burns and Brendan Thompson

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 seats)
Andrew Miller
David Pope
Devin Davis
Eric Boisen
Jared Parker
Margaret Nervig

College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences (5 seats)
Jordan Wilmes
Blake Findley
Stacy Lynne Howes
Tucker Olson
Christina Johnson
Alicia Jessip
Connor Hudson Ave
Jordan Leckband

Graduate College (3 seats)
Vincent Chukwuemeka
Chase Felchle

College of Business Administration (3 seats)
Tyler Moran
Thomas Madsen

College of Education (3 seats)
(open)

Undecided/General Studies/Other (2 seats)
(open)

The Athlete Vote

In an earlier post Chris commented on how engaged the students living in Campbell Hall are on campus and how vital their votes have been in previous NISG elections. This year, however, it seems that there is the potential for a new voting bloc to move in and influence the results of the presidential election: student athletes. Both Kyle and Brendan are members of UNI’s Track and Field team. Obviously, the connection will help them gain votes from members of their own organization, but several other athletic teams have been showing support for this ticket as well. With approximately 400 student athletes on campus, this group could really help Kyle and Brendan gain an advantage on election day.

There seems to be a stereotype that the UNI student athletes differ from the average student in regards to their voting habits in NISG elections. People seem to think that athletes are less likely to vote than other students on campus. The student athletes are actually more like the average student in respect to voting than you would expect. The number of students who vote in NISG elections has actually been fairly low as a percentage of the student body. Last year there was a total 2176 votes for presidential candidates. This means that less than 20% of the student body voted. Around 300 of these votes came from Campbell Hall alone, which makes them a force to be reckoned with if their level of participation continues. However, if the athletes come out in full force, they could easily match the expected number of Campbell Hall voters and become the new “kingmakers” on campus. It will be interesting to see the role that the student athletes play in this year’s election and what kind of impact they will have on future NISG elections.

Facebook and Elections

While number of Facebook friends and likes of candidate pages does not necessarily translate to votes, these numbers can be a good check to see a candidate's popularity and viability: Facebook outreach seems to have been a prominent factor in recent elections. Having a large number of Facebook friends is important because it increases a candidate’s ability to reach out to the student body. Candidates will typically invite all of their friends to their pages, which gives them the ability to promote themselves in a way that requires minimal effort. Also, the more friends candidates have, the more people see their status updates. This leads to more comments and likes, which show up on even more people’s news feeds. Facebook, in this way, is an easy method of campaigning to a large number of people. It gives candidates the name recognition and support they need to get votes. Since Facebook has become mainstream, the ticket with the most people in their Facebook group has won every contested election. This makes having a good Facebook page with a lot of likes absolutely vital to the candidates.

These numbers are important in the presidential election, but they are probably even more crucial in elections for senate. While the presidential candidates undertake extensive campaigning efforts to spread their names and platforms, a Facebook page is typically the only form of campaigning done by many senate candidates. They do not get their name spread across campus the same way the presidential candidates do, so the support of their friends can be the difference between winning and losing. Senators typically win their elections with around 200 votes. The highest number of votes any senate candidate had last year was 374. A large number of these votes may have come from people who were only reached by the candidates through Facebook. 

So where are the presidential candidates at compared to when formal campaigning started? Here is a breakdown:

Trevor Monnier

Current friends: 1383

Friends at beginning: 891

Beth Monnier

Current friends: 496

Friends at beginning: 470

Students for Trevor and Beth: 89 Likes

Jordan Bancroft-Smithe

Current friends: 434

Friends at beginning: 392

KaLeigh White

Current friends: 346

Friends at beginning: 294

Jordan and KaLeigh for UNI Students: 151 Likes

Kyle Burns

Current friends: 829

Friends at beginning: 785

Brendan Thompson

Current friends: 727

Friends at beginning: 697

Students for Kyle & Brendan: 227 Likes

Based on page likes, it looks like Kyle and Brendan are the current front runners. I am actually surprised by the friend counts, though; most of the candidates have only had modest increases in friend totals. Trevor, however, has experienced an explosion in friends over the last week, increasing his total by an astonishing 492. This has been the typical trend in previous years, and I was expecting most of the candidates to have large increases in number of friends. Campaigning is still far from over, though, and I expect the number of likes and friends will continue increasing as the process goes on.

The Student Services Fee

As I mentioned last night, the president’s most important role is to speak on behalf of UNI students to the Board of Regents and Iowa General Assembly. On campus, the most important role is to chair the Student Services Fee Committee. The Student Services Fee Committee is the committee that makes recommendations to President Allen for the allocations of the $213 student services fee (SSF) that every student pays in addition to tuition. This is the money that funds Homecoming, CAB, Athletics, the GBPAC, the Northern Iowan, NISG, and much more. Without the SSF, students would be required to pay for athletic event tickets and CAB events, would never have the opportunity to use NISG funds to bring speakers in, and Homecoming events would be nonexistent. Needless to say, the SSF is vitally important, and every student attending the university has benefited from what it funds at one time or another.

The SSF committee is chaired by the student body president. The rest of the committee is made up of five faculty members, three NISG at-large appointees, and the chair of NISG's Organization and Finance Committee. Together, they review applications for each line item of the SSF and make recommendations to President Allen. As chair of the committee, the student body president’s role is absolutely vital. Former Student Body President Joel Anderson used his position to rework the entire application process. In the coming weeks we’ll be finding out what President Walrath does with the committee, too.

Currently, the SSF Committee is sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars of unspent money. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed in the coming months, and which possibly will be dealt with by one of our three candidates for president. Students, your vote in the upcoming election should be influenced by who you trust the most to make the SSF reach the most students as possible.

Some key questions to ask candidates about this include:

• What are you going to recommend for the excess contingency fund dilemma?
• When Athletics asks for more money, are you going to approve it? If you do approve it, what will you recommend to fund less of?
• What will you do to protect funding for things like The Northern Iowan?
• Taking a stance in a room where all of the “adults/faculty” disagree with you is really tough. How will you handle it?

Even if you already know who you’re voting for, send an email/facebook message to all the candidates with these questions. Press them for answers. On campus, this is the most important thing that the student body president does. Make sure you know what your candidate is willing to do/say to best represent the student body.

Website Analysis: Kyle and Brendan

This is the second in a series of three posts analyzing campaign websites. 

Address:  www.kyle-brendan.com

Kyle and Brendan have a very neat, yet fun layout for their campaign website. They are using Google Blogger as a host, which gives them a lot of freedom when it comes to layout. Blogger also makes it incredibly easy to update posts. They tie their brand into their website by displaying one of their posters as the first thing visitors see when they come to the site. While I would like to see the same typeface used in the header across the website, it is possible that Blogger doesn't allow for images or typeface embedding within the header.

With only five straightforward tabs in the left sidebar, Kyle and Brendan's site is easy to navigate. What confuses me, however, are the links across the top in the gold bar that allow visitors to change the layout. It may come with the pre-made Blogger layout they chose. Unfortunately, I find it distracting.

Because the website is hosted on Blogger, I am curious to see if the team decides to use their site as a platform to blog. As I mentioned in my last post, blog posts are a great way to keep students up-to-date and informed about a campaign.

Another advantage of using Blogger is the built-in mobile site. This website displays wonderfully on my Android device, as well as the iPhone. Because of the dynamic content, however, the site is unable to load on the iPad. The mobile site is viewable on the iPad, but it is rather clunky and unattractive.

Much like the other campaign teams, Kyle and Brendan have been quick and eager to make changes to their website. When it went live it had the Media page as its homepage. Having Contact Us being the first thing visitors see is a vast improvement. By having the contact page as the home page, visitors are immediately encouraged to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter, or possibly even send the candidates an email.

What They're Doing Well

• Simplicity - Kyle and Brendan are doing a great job of saying a lot by having a minimalistic construction for their website. The white and gray backgrounds are crisp and professional, and the purple and gold header adds a touch of panther pride without being overbearing. The navigation sidebar is attractive and easy to use. I would, however, prefer to see the Platform link higher than the Media link. The platform is more important, so treat it as such.
• Engagement Functions - By using Blogger there are a lot of beneficial buttons on Kyle and Brendan's site. With a simple click a viewer can share a page on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook. There is also a button in the upper right for viewers to subscribe to the site's RSS feed, in addition to a search box. These two functions will be particularly helpful if this team decides to use their website as a blog. If the site stays static for the rest of the campaign, it is kind of pointless to have them as features at all. As I mentioned in my previous review, commenting is also enabled on Kyle and Brendan's site. Site comments are a quick and easy way for site viewers to be engaged with the content.

What They Could Do Better

• Posters - Much like Jordan and KaLeigh, Kyle and Brendan have availability issues with their posters. The duo has three posters available on their Facebook page, but they're not available as full resolution downloads. It would be great to see these posters available on their website for supporters to download and print. I wouldn't suggest adding them to the Media page because they have so many photos (almost too many). The way their site stands right now, they only have five tabs in their sidebar.  Adding a sixth one for Downloadables or Support our Team wouldn't create any extra clutter. In addition, it would also be great to have Facebook profile pictures and cover photos. (Kyle and Brendan both have their campaign cover photo on their personal Facebooks, but it isn't available to download anywhere else. They should spread it; the cover photo is great campaign space.)
• Platform - Having a downloadable PDF as an option on the Platform page is suggested so visitors can simply download the platform, read it as it was intentionally formatted, and possibly print it. Adding a download link at the top of the Platform page would be a small but helpful improvement

Overall Thoughts
Kyle and Brendan present their campaign in a neatly and to-the-point way with their website. They have been making layout and platform updates whenever they deem necessary, which is great. By adding some more media like posters and blog posts, they could make their site even better.

More Cuts Coming

As many of you are aware, today President Allen sent out an email describing the impending loses of funding at UNI. More information can be found here: http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/uni-president-cuts-could-be-coming-for-academics-athletics-and/article_986f279a-58f0-11e1-baab-0019bb2963f4.html

It’s a good reminder of just how easily funds can get pulled and budgets get slashed. Make sure to email your candidates for their opinion on the issue. What are they going to do to during their term to help mitigate these cuts? How will they approach the Board of Regents and Iowa General Assembly? Remember, the student body president speaks to both of these groups. I think whichever candidate can establish themself as the most qualified to do this will end up winning. Make sure to find out how your candidate will handle these situations before you make your vote.

Jordan and KaLeigh on CBA Supplemental Tuition

This afternoon, Jordan and KaLeigh updated their platform to include a topic that hasn't been addressed on any of the other platforms: College of Business Administration supplemental tuition. For those of you unaware, students admitted to the CBA are required to pay supplemental tuition, which amounts to roughly $1500 extra every year. Jordan and KaLeigh's platform explain their stance:

Several students have asked about our position on differential tuition rates in the College of Business Administration (CBA). CBA students pay roughly $1,500 more a year in tuition than the average student pays. The reason provided for this is that the students are receiving one of the best educations in the nation with highly qualified faculty. Unfortunately, in the three years since the implementation of differential tuition rates, the CBA students have not been seeing the returns for their money. As faculty leave the university or retire, their positions are not being filled again. This brings up the question, “What is our extra $1500 going towards?” We feel that the students in the CBA would like to see an audit of their college showing them exactly where their tuition money is going. We would work with the CBA to explore this option and others in order to assure business students see the benefit of their additional investment. 

Being the former CBA Senator for two years and a member of the CBA President's Council (which is made up of all of the president's of CBA student organizations), this topic is near and dear to my heart. I'm not sure who Jordan and KaLeigh were talking to, but the CBA has always been very open with what supplemental tuition covers. A quick google search lead me here:

http://business.uni.edu/web/pages/academics/supplementaltuition.cfm

The bottom of that page clearly shows what the money is being spent on. 

-55% for new faculty lines

-30% for professional skills initiative

-15% for financial aid for business students

This was developed years ago by a the CBA President's Council. Supplemental tuition has led to numerous new faculty hires, smaller classes, the Professional Readiness Program (PRP), and more scholarship money. To say that faculty are retiring without being rehired is crazy. Especially considering the CBA made multiple new hires this year that would not have been possible without supplemental tuition. Personally, I am forever grateful for this program, as it has funded the very scholarship that brought me to this campus. 

I'm not sure where Jordan and KaLeigh are getting their information, but it's not coming from the CBA. This is clear from the fact that they are calling it "differential" tuition. It's actually called supplemental tuition. I hope that they take the time to find out the real information and update their platform accordingly. 

Jordan and KaLeigh Platform Analysis

Quick Hits

Favorite Plank: “Work Together with the Senates and Executive Directors of Iowa and ISU”

The most important job that the Student Body President and Vice President have is to speak on behalf of the students to the Board of Regents. Knowing that, going into their term, they would have constant communication with our counterparts in Iowa City and Ames makes a whole lot of sense. Steps like these are what it takes to make sure UNI tuition does not go up, which should be every candidate’s #1 goal.

Least Favorite Plank: “Essentially, we will ask that the DOR set up a rewards program where, for example, with every $100 of dining dollars that are purchased the DOR will give an extra $25.”

Setting up a Dining Dollars rewards program sounds good, but I question the possibility of it. Call me crazy, but I just can’t see the DOR giving up 25% of the money they make on Dining Dollars without having to increase prices.

Unique Plank: “We will work in conjunction with the city of Cedar Falls to get a traffic light system or other device put in place so that traffic can flow smoothly and reduce the risk to students crossing the street.”

This is in regards to the heavy traffic on 23^rd street. I have never heard this idea and I think it possibly could help significantly. I can’t count the number of times I’ve almost been hit by a car that simply didn’t notice me.

Platform Theme: Based on the comprehensive and detailed approach they took, I think that this platform was Jordan and KaLeigh’s way to tout their experience on campus and in NISG.  


Jordan and KaLeigh's platform can be found on their website: http://jordanandkaleigh.com/wordpress/

Specific Analysis

Accountability, Transparency, and Visibility

All three candidates this year are looking to continue Spencer and Ian’s idea of a weekly president’s column in the NI. I think the column has been great; however, I’m not sure it’s reaching as many students as it can. Jordan and KaLeigh look to expand on it with an NISG blog. Based on the success and views of this blog, nisgelections.com, I can see this method of communication getting more views than the column in the NI. A blog has the potential for the entire executive branch, senate, and student body to chime in on what is going on in NISG. If they promote it correctly, it can be very successful.

In my time on the Organization and Finance Committee, one of the things I found that most every organization struggles with is transitioning new leaders/executives. NISG is no different. I love to see Jordan and KaLeigh address the need to set standards for transitions to ensure that their projects can get completed even after their term is up.

Green Policies

This is the section where Jordan and KaLeigh show how much research they have done. On-campus composting and a detailed “Save the Baskets” campaign go to prove that.

Campus Life

I’m not sold on the idea of an application for a Calendar of Events. This idea was tossed around by candidates last year and ultimately led to nothing. I don’t see myself, or my peers, downloading an app to find out what is going on around campus all the time. Students don’t want to go searching for what’s happening all the time; if that were the case then there would be no need for an app. Effective event advertising is about showing students what is going on without them having to take the proactive approach of searching for it. That being said, I think that a large calendar in the Union (and it needs to be HUGE) is a superb idea. The Union gets thousands of people walking through it every day; having a calendar that is hard not to notice would be perfect.

I love the Disabilities Initiative and Veteran’s Affairs sections of this platform. I attended the first meeting of the veterans student organization earlier this year and was surprised to find out how many issues our veterans face on campus. I’m glad to see these two groups of people addressed, as they normally are left off NISG platforms.

Transportation

Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t understand the need for 24/7 commuter parking. All of the buildings on campus are closed after 1 a.m., so what could a student be doing on campus so late? Obviously there are special circumstances where a few students may be on campus, but I don’t think it’s enough to open an entire parking lot.

As comprehensive and detailed as this platform is, I’m pretty surprised to not see any ideas for more parking. B lots are full, and the students who pay for those passes routinely can’t find a space to put their car. I wonder how this administration would address that problem.

Academics

Hearing the planned collaboration with Career Services, Financial Aid, and the Faculty Senate is good. Building those relationships helps NISG make the changes and do the things they want to do on campus.

Student Political Involvement

Registering students to vote at orientation is a brilliant idea. Not enough students vote in city elections. Using orientation to make it easier to vote will help UNI students have more of a voice in the city.

Community Building Initiatives

Getting student organizations to sponsor events with local businesses is a risky endeavor. Organizations cannot receive funding if they take place off campus, so I’m not sure NISG would be able to help organizations who choose to do this. That’s not to say that this would be a bad idea, just that many organizations depend on NISG to fund events. If they had it at a local business, NISG could no longer do that.

Breaking News: Election Commission changes signature requirement

The Election Commission voted at roughly 8:30 this evening to suspend the election rules in order to change the signature requirement for presidential tickets petitioning to get on the ballot. Presidential candidates will still need 150 total signatures to get on the ballot, but the number of signatures required from interdisciplinary/deciding/general studies majors has been reduced from 25 to 10. Election Commissioner Jill Hohnecker reports that candidates may acquire the remaining 15 signatures from students in any college.

As of press time, no changes have been made to the signature requirements for interdisciplinary/deciding/general studies students seeking to run for senate, as Hohnecker is unaware of any such campaigns at this time. Any student who wishes to run for those spots may contact Hohnecker at hohneckj@uni.edu.

The change comes in light of reported difficulties from all three presidential tickets to find the required 25 signatures, partially due to the fact that there is no real "home" for those students on campus.

While I personally think it's a bad idea to change the rules mid-election, I want names on the ballot. It would be a shame if every ticket turned into write-in campaigns just because the Commission was unwilling to bend when untested rules go awry. I commend the Commission for making this tough decision to ensure this election stays interesting and that the process serves students.

Website Analysis: Jordan and KaLeigh

Address:  www.jordanandkaleigh.com

Jordan and KaLeigh have a clean and classy layout for their website, powered by WordPress. The site's colors and typefaces are consistent with all of their other marketing material (Facebook profile pictures, posters, monitor slide, etc.).

Their site is organized with Home, About Us, Platform, Show Your Support, Media, Contact Us, and Sponsors pages. This easy-to-use navigation bar is beneath a banner with their campaign logo and a rotating photo of the candidates (and I will admit to refreshing their website so I could see every iteration of their header). Their website layout is somewhat reminiscent of the one I created last year for Spencer and Ian, but since the formula worked for us, why change it?

Beneath the navigation bar is a welcome message written using the blogging element of WordPress. I hope to see Jordan and KaLeigh use this as a campaign blog where they post updates over the course of the next two weeks. While it's nice to have a welcome message, I would much rather see consistent updates from the candidates over the course of their campaign.

By using WordPress they have an easy-to-use mobile site that renders wonderfully on my Android device as well as the iPhone. They even updated it so it has a beautiful purple background. The only issue I have had on a mobile device is on the iPad; the social media sidebar awkwardly loads at the bottom of each page.

What They're Doing Well

• Campaign Team - Having a strong team behind the two candidates is absolutely essential. Out of the three websites, Jordan and KaLeigh's is the only one who lists contacts on their campaign team. The candidates are busy people, so it can be helpful to have additional contacts listed for students to get in touch with. Also, after putting a lot of work into two NISG campaigns, I thought it was nice to have myself listed on the website so I could get some credit for the work I have contributed to the campaign. The candidates are the face of the campaign, but they couldn't move forward without a hard working team. Give them the credit they deserve!
• Social Media - Comparing the three campaign websites, Jordan and KaLeigh's has the best usage of social media links. Their right sidebar is completely dedicated to social media, and it is viewable on every page of their site. Not only are there direct links to their Facebook and Twitter profiles (recognized by the sites' icons), but visitors can also +1 the site to their Google+. My favorite element is the real time Twitter feed. It not only has all of the posts from their Twitter (@JordanNKaLeigh), but also all of the posts from the hashtag #NISGelections. The Facebook "Like" button is deceiving, however. When I clicked it I expected to be liking their page, but rather I liked their website. I don't see this as a bad thing necessarily, because it will show up as a link to their campaign website in the News Feed, but its function isn't what I thought it was.
• Commenting Enabled - Commenting is not only enabled for the blog-type posts on the home page, but also at the bottom of every page on the site. This is a great way to engage visitors because it an easy way to give (and receive) feedback. Fortunately, an improvement to this was made within the last 24 hours. When the website launched on Monday, visitors had to create an account in order to post comments, but now all that is required is a name and an email address.
• Facebook Specific Downloads - While it makes sense for campaign Facebook profile pictures and cover photos to be available on the campaign Facebook page, it is great to see them available on their website, as well. Once again, they are the only campaign with this available on their website.

What They Could Do Better

• Posters - I was very pleased to notice grayscale versions of posters on their Facebook, but they aren't downloadable in their full resolution. I traveled over to their website to see if they were uploaded there and was surprised to see they weren't. Grayscale posters are a great alternative for people to print on all of the free printers across campus, so having them uploaded to their website would be a great improvement. [Edit:  Since writing this post, one of their two grayscale posters has been added to their website.]
• Sponsors - I love that Jordan and KaLeigh are up-front about who their sponsors are and are giving them exposure on their website.  However, they are simply listed with their respective logos. It would be an improvement to have links to the sponsors' respective websites, or to have contact information listed.

Overall Thoughts
Jordan and KaLeigh have an attractive, user-friendly website that is conducive to viewers giving their input and getting connected with their campaign. They have been on top of making improvements and updates to improve usability and to keep their information up-to-date. Their media team did their homework on what makes a great campaign website, and it shows.

If you have any additional input about Jordan and KaLeigh's site, leave a comment below!

Trevor and Beth Platform Analysis

Quick Hits

Favorite Plank: “To increase the benefits student organizations provide, we would push to award the top twenty student organizations on campus with roll over funds in the NISG accounts.“

This idea is fantastic. Director of Administration and Finance, Dakotah Reed, routinely mentions that a lot of money handed out by the Organization and Finance Committee never actually gets spent. Rewarding organizations that work hard with extra funds is an amazing way to motivate organizations to do better and to let students get more out of their Student Services Fee.

Least Favorite Plank: “We will actively promote inclusivity across by celebrating the individuality and value each student brings to campus. As written by John Donne, 'No man is an island, entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent.' In other words, any action that detracts from one student detracts from the entire student body. We will diligently seek to preserve and further equality and inclusivity at UNI in order to foster a welcoming community.”

This is my least favorite because I don’t even know what it is. The platform is short and to-the-point, except here. I don’t think this tells me anything that I couldn’t reasonably infer about a ticket running for Student Body President and Vice President.

Most Unique Plank: “We would work with the Director of Public Safety (D.P.S.) to develop an email notification system for parking tickets”.

I know many students -- not myself, fortunately -- who were unaware that they parked in an illegal spot and racked up 3-4 tickets. An e-mail would have solved this issue. However, I think that it’s going to take work to implement.

Theme: This platform is short and to the point. To me, I feel like they are trying to connect with the most casual voters. They have strong, unique ideas that the average student can identify with and which will hopefully (for Trevor and Beth) get votes.


Trevor and Beth's full platform can be found on the website: http://www.trevorandbeth.com/

Specific Analysis

Visibility/Transparency

I like the idea of a weekly video blog, but how realistic is that? The job adds 40 hours a week to being a full-time student, so I have my doubts that they can continue something like this for an entire year. Unless we start seeing some video blog entries during the campaign, I wouldn’t expect it during their term.

Stewardship

I think installing motion sensor lights is a great idea and a relatively easy sell to the university. Great plank.

Bicycle Recycle

This is an idea that was beginning to get discussed this year in the Student Affairs committee. Other campuses do a similar program, and I’m eager to see what Trevor and Beth can come up with. My primary concern is getting enough quality, and safe, bikes for this program to be effective. If they can find enough bikes and keep the rental fee at a reasonable rate, it sounds great.

Parking

Other than the email notification that I mentioned earlier, there isn’t much on this topic. They don’t provide any possible solutions for more parking, or even address that it’s a problem worth looking into. I know it’s a big challenge to fix, but for many students, it’s one of the biggest frustrations with UNI.

Inclusivity

From what I’m told from the Director of Diversity and Student Life, this committee already exists informally. It’s great that they want to make it a formal committee, but is that all there is on the diversity front? In years past, diversity issues have encompassed entire pages of platforms. Having one plank of something already in place isn’t sufficiently addressing concerns. Just like Kyle and Brendan, I hope that this ticket goes back and consults with people who know the minority students' issues. Then, I hope they come back to the student body with some real ideas to fix the problems. 

One other notable group left off this platform is Greeks. For the small percentage of student body that they represent, they go above and beyond with involvement on campus. Two of the last three student body presidents were Greek, and this year’s senate has had more than its fair share of them. Greeks are a large voting constituency, and I’m perplexed by the decision to leave them off.

Fiscal Policy

As a former Chair of the Organization and Finance Committee, I can say that they are dead on in saying that something needs to change. I think that consolidating the funds can help with the application, but I’m still wary that it’s the grand solution to the problem. The major problem, from my perspective, is that the committee can’t include every type of request in the funding guidelines. This leads to ambiguous guidelines and inconsistent interpretations from year to year. I know that the committee is currently working on changing the guidelines, and it’s my hope that these candidates attend the meetings (every Monday evening). Otherwise, I’m very happy that they are addressing this problem and I look forward to seeing their ideas.

Student Organizations

Giving the “top 20 student organizations” some roll-over NISG funds is probably my favorite plank of all three tickets. If implemented effectively, this would reward the best organizations for consistently being the best. I would be cautious about moving forward, though. The guidelines need to be airtight and as fair as possible. It’s my hope that this ticket consults many people in developing this program.