Change party focuses on lowering student fees

He can't lower tuition and he can't make textbooks less expensive. But he can — and will — critically examine every dollar of budgets requesting student fee funding if elected in the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska student government elections.

"What bothered us (people in his campaign) the most is there are always politicians — state, federal and regents — saying they're going to lower the cost of college, and the cost always goes up," Lacy said. "We're going to try to be the ones who actually pull it off."

If Lacy held the position of student regent — a non-voting position — he promised to "yell really loud" in opposition to tuition hikes. Closer to campus, he would scrutinize budgets and require fee users to convince the Committee for Fee Allocation they are worth funding.

Lacy is a political aficionado, but he doesn't see his commentary about national politics affecting his ability to lead students.

At least one Party of Hope and Change candidate anticipates winning. Nate Derenge, a sophomore accounting major, is running for one of four College of Business Administration senatorial seats, against three CONNECT candidates and a CONNECT write-in.

Because he anticipates a win for his own campaign, Derenge is focusing more on motivating his fellow Party of Hope and Change candidates.

"It's really quite a team effort," he said.

Derenge said he was one of the founding members of the Party of Hope and Change. He became interested after delving into ASUN and CFA's activities and gauging how government-sponsored activities promoted student learning.

In the past, Lacy has cited the Dailyer Nebraskan and NU on Wheels as programs he feels aren't performing to the level of their funding. In addition, University Program Council could face a reduction, given their two large spring events were cancelled.

Although no one would call Lacy a fan of the Daily Nebraskan, he said it's important the newspaper continues reporting. The UNL Publication Board, which oversees the Daily Nebraskan and the Dailyer Nebraskan, received $115,686 for 2009-2010.

"As much as I like to get on them (the DN), I recognize it's a necessary evil," he said.

On the other hand, Lacy said the USA TODAY readership program, which received $284,786 for 2009-2010, is probably the least important because many students get their news online.

Lacy also opposes ASUN executive benefit increases. If elected, he, like CONNECT internal vice president Brian Coburn, would forfeit them.

Try as they might, the Party of Hope and Change campaign is small, and Lacy acknowledged he will have to work with CONNECT's senate majority. He said he thought some of CONNECT's platforms were vague but that the campaign has a lot of good wisdom.

With a possible senate election, Derenge said he is prepared to work with CONNECT senators to accomplish each party's goals.

"First of all, we're all Nebraska students, we're all Huskers and we all want what's best for students at the university, whether they're greek, non-greek, in a residence hall or off campus," he said. "That's one of our common denominators, and we'll keep ASUN's priority right there.

"The Change party doesn't have a monopoly of the greatest ideas, and (with CONNECT) there will be plenty of experience on ASUN to help us do what's best for students. We're about connecting too."

Lacy said the Party of Hope and Change campaign estimates only about 5 percent of campus cares about ASUN, and most of the people who care are involved in elections.

"I don't know how to combat campus apathy," he said. "Everyone has their own interest, and you can't force anyone to care about something. And if someone does have a good idea, I'd be glad to hear it."

But is the Party of Hope and Change in it to win it?

"We've been kind of the underdog all the way through, and we don't expect to win that much," he said. "It doesn't mean that we can't do it, it just means we're going to trust God to pick the right person."

The real victory would be if more students cared about their student fees.

"Even if I don't win the vote tally, I've still won," Lacy said.

kiahhaslett@dailynebraskan.com