Members of the Student United Party are preparing for student elections on April 17 and 18. With a motto of “What’s The Party?” the SUP has been going to recognized student organizations as well as meeting with Greek houses, Resident Hall Association and student athletes.

“We want students to know this isn’t a popularity contest,” said Student Senate Speaker Sean Anderson.

The party also wants the student body to know how diverse the organization is. Anderson said the group includes students from RHA, the Greek community, international students as well as athletes.

“The only way to represent the diverse student body is to have a diverse Student Government,” Anderson said. “We all really want to be on Student Government.”

Anderson is running for student body president and his platform includes a focus on school safety. Anderson referenced the recent stabbing of Eastern football player Ben Brown and the June 2001 killing of Eastern student Shannon McNamara as examples of the campus’s safety issues.

“There have been several isolated issues,” Anderson said. “I don’t think when multiple issues occur it’s isolated.”

In order to make campus safer, Anderson suggests increasing lighting around campus and putting security cameras in key buildings, which was discussed earlier in the semester but was never done.

“There is a willingness to work on it,” Anderson said. “When you get Student Government, the administration and the student body together to work on it, it will get accomplished.”

Another of Anderson’s ideas is to increase school spirit. He intends to do this by taking a Homecoming tradition, the competition between hall councils, RSOs and Greek houses for points, and extending it semester long.

“If they attend a volleyball game as a group, they would get a point,” Anderson said.

At the end of the semester, Anderson proposes an RSO banquet where the top RSO would get it’s own office space.

Senate member Levi Bulgar is running for student vice president for business affairs and is proposing budgeting RSO funding, an issue that has been a Student Government project for years.

“We have so many award-winning RSOs on campus,” Bulgar said. “I believe that it is about time that they get the help from the administration they deserve.”

While Bulgar is not sure exactly how RSOs would be funded, he does pledge to work with administration and the other executive board members to find a way to budget the necessary funding. Bulgar also proposes that student receive e-mails from the Student Government.

“What I plan to do is convince the administration to send out a mass e-mail to keep people informed as to where their money goes,” Bulgar said. “Be it pre-purposed budgets, new projects or additional allocations for University Board, Apportionment Board, the Student Recreation Center or (the) Student Government.”

David Keyes, who is running for student vice president of academic affairs, proposes putting all student grades on WebCT, so students have access to their grades at any time. Keyes also proposes that professors use an on-line advising form when advising students.

“It lets students be more pro-active about their future classes,” said Keyes. “But it wouldn’t be mandatory for advisors to adopt.”

Another the party idea is making community service more accessible. Cole Rogers is running for student vice president of student affairs and suggests having an office directly devoted to community service.

“I have been on a service learning committee on campus, we have made great strides with many different ideas, such as incorporating community service into the classroom,” Rogers said.