While waiting to speak at Allison Hall Wednesday night, Anil Hurkadli heard an announcement for Suitcase Party.

“I buy tickets to that and I lose every year,” said Hurkadli, a Weinberg junior. “But I go anyway.”

And although this is Hurkadli’s third Associated Student Government campaign – he ran and lost twice for executive vice president and is now vying for president – he said he still is optimistic that he can alter ASG for the better.

“I want to change the way ASG is run,” said Hurkadli, who was a senator and executive committee member his freshman year. “I realize now ASG has a lot of potential. It needs to be more student-oriented.”

Whether he’s speaking at Allison munchies, visiting residents in Bobb Hall or using 50 pieces of chalk in one day to advertise, Hurkadli said his goal is gathering student input.

The key to his platform is a revised constitution, modified from a 1998 document that Hurkadli says failed in an online referendum because of low voter turnout. Among other changes, the constitution would create a presidentially appointed cabinet to lobby administrators, freeing executive board member to collect student input.

It also would reduce the number of senators from 82 to 50, and senators would not be allowed to serve until they are third-quarter freshmen.

Hurkadli said that apathy, a divided executive board and an untrustworthy online voting system doomed the 1998 constitution, but that those factors have changed. Also, he said he would convince students to vote for his constitution.

Hurkadli’s ideas include using Campaign Northwestern money for a “trust fund” that would go toward anything students wanted.

Hurkadli is a campaign veteran, having ran losing races in 1999 and 2000. He said he couldn’t handle a campuswide campaign in 1999, the same year he said he was dismissed from Senate for absenteeism. But during his 2000 campaign, he realized he should try for president.

“This year I’m ready. I’m ridiculously excited,” he said. “Third time’s the charm.”