In a Student Government election, experience inside the University political system can be an asset or a hindrance to political aspirations. While some tickets flaunt their status as outsiders, others rely on past experiences to prove their worth.For the spearheads of the Next Level ticket, SG experience, they say, is what makes them different from most of the other candidates.Headed by Sen. Andy Palermo, University Center for Advising and Counseling, and Phoebe Hathorn, executive staff assistant director of finance, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Next Level ticket have a combined 10 semesters in SG.Since his first semester on campus, Palermo has been an active member of the SG senate. During his three years there, Palermo authored many bills, including motions to introduce an on-campus roommate matching service and a bill which requires open SG positions to be broadcast to the entire student body.Hathorn, his running mate, served as a senator during her freshman year and currently chairs the Programming, Support and Initiatives Fund Committee.Alongside these candidates is the single largest of the five tickets participating in this year’s election, with 87 other candidates running for various college councils and positions.The ticket supports a large number of SG members and estimates its supporters to be about 40 percent Greek, according to Drew Prestridge, the Next Level campaign manager.The rest of the ticket is a mixture of students from different campus backgrounds.”Getting the most different opinions into the decision making process is the best way to work for the students,” Palermo said.Like the other campaigns, the Next Level has taken up the mantle of speaking the students’ voice if elected. Though they are both SG politicians, Palermo and Hathorn said they would stick up for the needs of the average student.PROGRAMSOn their push cards, which have been handed out by the hundreds during the past two weeks, Palermo and Hathorn outline 25 points they said will be the basis of their potential administration.The first of these points is the establishment of what Palermo calls “a true dead week.”To cut down on stress before final exams, Palermo said he would push to make sure professors weren’t allowed to assign tests or papers during the University’s dead week. Though this is the University’s official policy, Palermo said he has seen many student complaints about violation of dead week rules. Because the SG president has no authority over instructors, Palermo would have to work with the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Astrid Merget to enforce this policy.If elected, Hathorn said she and her ticket would work to re-evaluate the University’s computer-based testing program.Hathorn said she would work to transition math and accounting classes out of the lab while transitioning other multiple choice-based tests in.”Students shouldn’t be worried about learning the ins-and-outs of a computer program,” Hathorn said. “They should be learning the academic material.” To cut down on the cost of text books, Palermo said he would try to instate a four-semester minimum requirement for professors before they are allowed to order the new edition of a book. Looking to placate students concerned with the difficulty of parking on campus during game days, Palermo has suggested designating the Hart lot for commuters and Tiger Band.”Students pay for their passes, and they should be able to utilize them, especially on game day,” Hathorn said.BUDGET CUTS AND FINANCELike any other ticket on the campaign trail, University budget cuts are an imposing and problematic unknown for the Next Level. Though SG has no direct influence on how budget cuts will affect students, Palermo said he would lobby for performance-based cuts rather than a flat cut.”We feel LSU has performed at a high level of performance in the past couple of years and should be cut accordingly,” Palermo said.If elected, Palermo said he would spend a significant amount of his time going to students and getting their opinions about how SG should handle budget cuts.”We have some amazing economists on campus, which are amazing resources which must be tapped into,” Hathorn said.Though the budget cuts will be statewide with higher education taking a hard hit across the board, Palermo and Hathorn said they would only be concerned with the future of the University.”We’re worried about number one,” Palermo said. “We’re worried about LSU, not other schools.”—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]