NEWS
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NORTHERN-IOWAN.ORG | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013
DEBATE
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COLBY CAMPBELL/Northern Iowan
NISG presidential and vice presidential candidates debated Thursday in Maucker Union. The candidates, from left to right, were: Alicia Jessip and KaLeigh White; Tom Madsen and Blake Findley; David Pope and Katie Grassi.
PREGRACKE
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People began to see what he was doing and contacted the media. Suddenly he was known across the country, and in 1998 Pregracke founded Living Lands and Waters. For Julia Ostapiej, who works with Green Iowa AmeriCorps, Pregracke’s story was motivational and inspirational. “He started small and
expanded. It gives students hope,” she said. Pregracke recalls almost calling it quits during the last seven miles of a cleanup near Chicago, where barrels and tires filled the shores of the river. But he thought, “I can see it. It’s tangible. I need to stick with this.” While so much has been accomplished over Living Land and Waters’ 15 years of existence, there’s still a lot of
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work to be done. “There are so many places to go and so much need. We’re just getting started,” Pregracke said. Today, Pregracke takes time to speak to audiences across the country, encouraging them to find what they’re passionate about. “Look around. If you see a problem, I would really encourage you to go after it,” he said.
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT LIVING LANDS AND WATERS?
Visit their website at www. livinglandsandwaters.org to learn more about how to get involved.
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vice presidential candidate Alicia Jessip has unique ideas. “We do have a lot of new ideas on our platform. These ideas are ultimately expanding and improving what we have seen over the past (year),” White said. “What’s important is making sure that our ideas are important to the students.” NISG presidential candidate David Pope and vice presidential candidate Katie Grassi brought up the idea of a digital student application. “I will say that I like the app that David and Katie talked about where students can post issues and concerns, instead of going to an office or physically putting a note in a box,” said Jenelle Martin, Spanish and business administration double major. “(It’s a) good use of technology.” Paresh Upreti, junior economics and mathemetics double major, was concerned with student attendance at the event. The debate was also live-streamed for stu-
dent viewing. “I listened to the debate but I did not enjoy having so few students attending,” Upreti said. “Since these are the people who will be making the future tomorrow, they should be more involved and they should know what NISG is and how it affects their future.” “I was surprised that more students didn’t come to see what the candidates had to say,” Martin said. “It makes me feel like what the older people say about our generation is true; we aren’t choosing to vote and or educate ourselves about the candidates and their platforms because many of us don’t seem to care.” Former NISG vice president Ian Goldsmith commented on the debate. “Well, I admire all the candidates to have the courage to put themselves out there (and) their ideas out there. Ultimately, what’s most important is that you know these conversations are happening, and that all six of them (are) working really hard to do what’s best for our university,” Goldsmith said.
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NISG PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES?
Visit the NISG Elections blog at www.nisgelections. blogspot.com/ to read critiques about the candidates platforms. Also, follow NISG Elections — Northern Iowan on Facebook for the most current updates on the elections.
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