Hari Iyer announced his bid for Student Association president Thursday afternoon and pledged that, if elected, he will bring greater financial transparency to Syracuse University.

‘I’ve come here to invite you all to uptake the most dynamic and revolutionary movement during our student careers,’ Iyer said during an announcement in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management Atrium.

‘I’m talking about radically redesigning how this university functions, for the better,’ he said in a later interview.

Iyer will run against Jon Barnhart, SA’s current Student Engagement Committee chair, who announced his candidacy Tuesday. Iyer, a junior finance, economics and policy studies major, is not an SA member.

SA elections will take place Nov. 9 to 12. Students can vote via MySlice.

What affects students most is how the university spends tuition money without consulting them, Iyer said.

‘The Connective Corridor is something that a lot of students might not agree with, or the excessive amount of investment in the Connective Corridor,’ Iyer said. ‘There are some highly questionable construction projects that have occurred along those lines, and this is in terms of money being given to organizations that haven’t really done anything impactful with that money.’

Iyer suggested doubling the size of SA to create additional taskforces that will research how the university is spending money and inform the student body. On these taskforces, Whitman students would act as financial auditors and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications students would release the information about SA’s findings to students.

SA should also work to keep parents and alumni informed about how money is spent, Iyer said.

‘Parents have the most influential impact, in terms of the administration listening to the SU community, because they pay the bills,’ Iyer said. ‘And alumni as well, because they donate considerable amounts of money.’

Iyer said he will work with faculty members so that students can receive classroom or independent study credit for applying their majors to SA work.

Iyer dismissed other issues, such as MayFest plans and drinking age concerns, that were brought up by his opponent Barnhart. The university’s financial transparency is more important, he said.

Iyer said he feels like his campaign is at a disadvantage because he is not currently a member of SA like Barnhart. But, Barnhart said that might not be a bad thing.

‘It’s really good to see someone not involved with Student Association coming out with an issue big enough that he thinks he can run for SA president on that platform,’ Barnhart said. ‘I’m actually really excited for some good, healthy competition.’

Iyer acknowledged his platform may seem idealistic, but he said it can be realistically accomplished.

‘I think it’s something that can easily be put into motion due to support from the faculty, due to support from various departments that are as concerned about this issue as I am,’ he said.

Because of poor acoustics in the Whitman Atrium, Iyer plans to deliver another speech outlining his campaign Tuesday afternoon at the Wall of Remembrance in front of the Hall of Languages.

The candidates will participate in a debate Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel, according to a news release issued Thursday.

rhkheel@syr.edu

Published on October 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm