Associated Student Government presidential candidate Howard Lien has traveled hundreds of miles from Tufts University full of ideas that he would like to enact if elected ASG president.
Lien, who transferred from Tufts to Northwestern Fall Quarter, is stressing campus safety, improved student-ASG communication, senate attendance and dining hall changes as the key tenets of his platform.
Lien, a Weinberg sophomore double majoring in international studies and political science, was a senator and judiciary committee member at Tufts and also has worked on several political campaigns.
He joined student government at NU Fall Quarter as a Bobb Hall senator, but was dismissed from Senate in November after accruing too many absences.
Lien said he missed the first meeting of the year because he wasn’t notified that he had been elected a senator.
“I think what happened was a misunderstanding,” Lien said. “When I explained that to members of the executive board they were very sympathetic.”
Lien said he lost interest in attending ASG meetings during the quarter because of their tone and inefficiency. When Senate dismissed him, he appealed the case, but senators did not vote to reinstate him.
Lien said if elected president, he will change meetings “so that senators feel all of their time and effort makes a difference.”
Weinberg junior Tina Valkanoff, a fellow political activist, is managing Lien’s campaign crew of 30 volunteers. Lien said she has been integral to creating environmental and finance pledges that the campaign is trying to have other candidates sign.
Lien has walked the campus this week taping down bright red flyers proclaiming “No Bull.” He also has chatted with hundreds of students around campus. Lien plans to visit dining halls and other places in which he wants to see change.
Lien said he misses the university-operated dining service at Tufts. He said he thinks Sodexho-Marriot is too profit-oriented and cuts costs at the expense of taste.
“Dining hall managers now can work as hard as they can to improve food quality, but they still can only spend a certain amount of money,” Lien said.
He seeks to change the Flex Plan “which rips students off,” to allow students to spend bonus bucks at local restaurants, and “ultimately rid the campus of Sodexho.”
Lien also said he feels the campus, especially Sheridan Road needs better lighting, over- and underpasses, more emergency call boxes and additional crosswalks.
Lien said he wants to keep ASG neutral in city politics, especially after several officers suggested that ASG endorse Kellogg Prof. Allan Drebin’s failed campaign for city council this week.
“The city of Evanston is a potential partner to help promote student life,” Lien said. “In order for that to happen, we have to have support from city council.”
Communication, both within ASG and between students and the group, is a key point Lien has stressed to students this week.
He proposes to add a section to HereAndNow Online where students can read and suggest ideas about current ASG issues and find out who their senator is.
Lien also pledges to push Norris University Center renovation plans, the elimination or reduction of student printing fees, weekend hours for Allison Dining Hall and the construction of a multi-story student parking garage.
Lien has urged students to send their ASG ideas to him through his Web site, www.howardlien.com, so he can give them to the winner, which he realistically admits might not be him.
“I’ve said from the beginning this campaign isn’t about one person’s ideas,” Lien said. “It’s about people’s input.”
