The possibility of getting free feminine hygiene products on campus captivated Niko Alaezi when she first read Inspire Party’s platform.
“I have no idea if that can actually be done,” the UF nursing junior said. “But I am a woman, and I know it’s important to have access to those sort of things. When you’re in an emergency or a time crunch, it’s a necessity not a luxury to have them.”
Inspire, one of Student Government’s registered parties for the Fall elections, released its 14-item campaign platform Wednesday morning. The upcoming SG elections, which are scheduled for Sept. 26 and Sept. 27, will be for students to elect 50 senators based on where they live.
Impact Party will release its campaign platform Thursday, said Kylie Werk, one of the party’s managers.
Inspire Party President Ben Lima said his party’s platform was developed after speaking to students on campus and meeting with organizations such as the Brazilian Students Association and Democracy Matters.
Lima said the execution for each idea of Inspire Party’s platform varies on a case-by-case basis. To implement online voting, senators will try to get a constitutional amendment passed. To increase transparency within SG, they want to redevelop the SG website to make it easier for students to find out what their representatives are voting for and spending money on. To keep libraries open 24/7, they will evaluate the budget to find the money.
“If we’re elected and we get to serve in the Senate, we want to make sure the 20 million dollars in the budget are used to improve the university as a whole and the student lives,” Lima said.
Alaezi said she would have liked Inspire Party to provide more details about how they’ll execute the ideas on its platform.
“I agreed with everything, but most of this stuff is very generic,” the 20-year-old said. “I feel like some of this stuff is just taking up space.”
Alaezi said she knows Inspire senators, if elected, will not be able to accomplish some of their projects. She said reducing state-mandated fees for graduate students would take too much time and adding parking space on campus can’t be done.
However, Alaezi said she thinks some of Inspire’s plans are doable, including implementing SG online voting.
Another project Alaezi said is doable from Inspire’s platform is allowing students to voice their opinions within multicultural affairs. She said as a black student, she’s excited about that possibility.
“Just this summer, nobody was listening to us, they were just tearing down buildings,” the 20-year-old said, referencing the administration handling of the re-construction of the Institute of Black Culture and “La Casita.”
Stay tuned for a full breakdown of both SG political party campaigns coming soon.
