No mandatory meal plans. Grandfathering tuition. Annexing NAU and UA to become ASU North and South.
The candidates running for Undergraduate Student Government president have some lofty platforms this year, some more ambitious than others.
Presidential candidate Matthew Kenney, a political science and English literature junior, said he wants to change the dynamic of student government altogether.
"What we think is the best solution is a bigger change," he said. "We want to separate USG from administration by creating its own personal revenue."
USG represents students' opinions to the administration, the Arizona Board of Regents and the Arizona Legislature.
Kenney said USG could become self-sufficient by starting student-run businesses.
But it will take more than one year to accomplish a self-sufficient student government, he added.
Current USG President Corinne Widmer said a self-sufficient student government was a good idea.
"It's necessary for student government to be an independent voice for students."
But Widmer added it would take outside money to get it started.
The money would probably have to be taken from tuition, and $5 from each student would probably be enough, she said.
Presidential candidate Bryce Underwood, a civil engineering sophomore, and vice-presidential candidate Brad Smith, a computer science and political science sophomore, are also thinking on a larger scale.
Smith said they prefer to run on "pedestals" as opposed to platforms.
The two said they are running on the pedestal of "Don't be a tool."
"Nobody respects student government because most USG leaders spend a lot of time talking about big ideas that they have no ability to implement," Smith said.
Some of the other pedestals they are running on are infinite free parking, mandatory meal plans for all students and creating ASU North and South by annexing UA and NAU.
Smith said that by running on these pedestals, he and Underwood hope to accomplish two goals.
"We want to point out the absurdity of the process and challenge the stupidity that is inherent in the system," he said.
The two running mates don't take themselves too seriously, Smith said.
"We're more focused on actually lampooning things," he added.
Some presidential candidates are running on the more traditional issues of tuition, textbook prices and the mandatory meal plan.
Both Ross Meyer, an economics junior, and Richard Sales, a political science senior, are focusing on tuition as one of their platforms.
Sales said that as president, he would fight against any "massive" tuition hikes.
Meyer's plan is to grandfather tuition, meaning the cost of attending ASU would stay the same throughout the four years a student attended the University.
But President Michael Crow said candidates shouldn't concentrate on tuition.
"Focusing on tuition is just the same as taking dollars away from the library, taking dollars away from the faculty and so forth," he said.
Without tuition increases, the University can't move forward, Crow said.
"From my perspective, all discussions that don't address how to fund and improve the University are meaningless," he added.
While Crow does take into account the USG president's recommendations when proposing his yearly tuition increases, he said they should try to focus on making financial aid more accessible to students.
Textbook prices are another issue for both Sales and Meyer.
Meyer is focusing on a book-swap program, while Sales wants to start a book-rental program.
Rob Meyers, a manager at the ASU Bookstore, said both programs have positives and negatives.
It's very likely a book-swap program could easily be put in place, he said.
Meyers said the West campus is starting a similar program and the bookstore is willing to help start a program at the Tempe campus.
But they would need someone in charge who could hold the position for several years, he added.
Meyers said Sales' proposed book-rental program is a good idea, but there are two major drawbacks.
"A lot of work would have to be done to figure out where the funding would come from," he said.
Getting faculty to follow the program would be difficult, too, Meyers said.
"Lots of faculty don't like to be told what books to use and how long to use it," he added.
Sales also said he wants to fight the mandatory meal plan -- he even posted "No mandatory meal plans. Period." on many of his campaign signs.
But Karen Levy, staff chair of the Meal Plan Committee, said it's probably not possible to stop it at this point.
"We've created a program for the last nine months with student input, but ultimately he can't say yes or no," she said.
Reach the reporter at kristi.eaton@asu.edu.
