An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890 TUESDAY 03.06.2018 No.114 Vol 217
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WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?
StuGov Elections March 6-7 BY ALEX.CONNOR @iowastatedaily.com Two slates. Four candidates. One president and vice president. Thirty four ideas on how to better Iowa State. In an effort to best inform the student body about their choice for Student Government’s next president and vice president, the Daily has compiled campaign promises of the candidates, as listed on their websites. We then cross-referenced their platform with what they said during interviews and during debates as well as the background of that idea as it relates to Iowa State. Voting will open Tuesday at midnight and will remain open until Wedneday at 11:59 p.m. Students will receive an email with a link to the ballot or can go to stugov.iastate.edu to access the ballot.
EXTRA CONTENT ONLINE Go to the online article to read about all 34 campaign points including expanding Green Dot, a potential Walk for Diversity, a student organization liaison seat and more.
JULIAN NEELY & JUAN BIBILONI ABOUT: Neely, junior in journalism and mass communication, and Bibiloni, sophomore in mechanical engineering, are both currently involved in Student Government as Neely serves as the director of diversity and inclusion and Bibiloni represents the Inter-Residence Hall Association as a senator. Other involvements by the two include leading the Student Government diversity and inclusion committee. Neely has previously served as vice president of the Black Student Alliance and is the current chapter president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. PLATFORM: “Cyc lone 2 Cyclone is a program meant to connect upperclassman and new students within the same major. This program will allow new students to connect with someone that can provide them with the realities and experiences of their chosen degree path. We hope that this connection between two Cyclones will allow them to develop an influential relationship that will improve new students’ experiences during their first year.” WHAT THEY SAID: “Julian and I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We want to work with those programs such as learning communities and other mentorship programs in the university to make sure that those mentorship programs currently in place are effective and through trying to transform them into a Cyclone
BENJAMIN WHITTINGTON & JOCELYN SIMMS
2 Cyclone network,” Bibiloni said during the vice presidential debate. BACKGROUND: Learning communities began more than 20 years ago at Iowa State with the purpose of serving students and to help answer college concerns and establish what it means to be a university student. According to statistics from 2016, there are more than 80 learning communities at Iowa State — a program utilized by 70 percent of all first-year students. A program similar to the proposed Cyclone 2 Cyclone by Neely and Bibiloni is Cyclone 101, which was introduced two years ago under then-Student Government President Cole Staudt. The full implementation of the program was unsuccessful due to additional barriers such as lagging classroom space. Instead, Iowa State administrators incorporated the ideas of Cyclone 101 into a year-long process to review the university’s onboarding process. PLATFORM: “Friday Cyday — Think of this as Black Friday with a Cardinal and Gold twist. Julian and Juan will plan a Friday with the ISU Bookstore and other merchandise stores to have a Friday of specials and discounts for all ISU apparel and gear. They believe that this would be a step forward in providing opportunities for students to rejoice and gear
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ABOUT: Whittington, sophomore in political science, and Simms, junior in English, are both involved in Turning Point USA at Iowa State, with Whittington serving as the current president and Simms as the secretary of the organization. Additionally, Whittington is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and Simms is one of the founding members of Delta Gamma at Iowa State. She also serves as the treasurer and poetry board editor of Sketch Literary Journal. PLATFORM: “If elected, we pledge to be responsible with the money put in our hands by Iowa State University students. Our plan is to put all unspent money from student activity fees into the creation of a scholarship fund serving students in need. Moreover, we will ‘put our money where our mouth is’ and promise that if the unspent money totals less than $2,000, Ben will donate money, out of his own pocket, so that the newly created scholarship fund equals $2,000. The inception of this scholarship fund is just one way for Student Government to give back to Iowa State students.” WHAT THEY SAID: “The process of making this will be fairly difficult. First, the criteria will be the students in need, of course we want to be fair to as many students as possible here at Iowa State University but at the same time we have vulnerable groups of people from…commu-
nities that do need help with their education funding.” BACKGROUND: Currently, there are no funds dedicated by Student Government for a scholarship fund for students. However, the president, vice president, finance director and speaker receive scholarships that serve as tuition remission. Student Government receives its funding from the student activity fee, $36.75 per student, to later be allocated to organizations. There are no bylaws against a scholarship fund, however, the Senate typically denies funding to organizations if it exists to “assist students in attaining an internship, a scholarship or a professional degree status.” PLATFORM: “Whittington and Simms desire to recreate VEISHEA in the form of a university-wide ten day festival celebrating Iowa State University and it’s students. This festival would consist of a day for each college/ school on campus - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Design, College of Engineering, Graduate College, College of Human Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ivy College of Business, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, and School of Education.” WHAT THEY SAID: “A part of our platform is a return to that
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