Editor’s note: This story is the second in a four-part series on the Student Government campaigns. The candidates will be presented alphabetically by last name. Student Government election day is less than a week away, and campaigns haven’t slowed.Presidential candidate J Hudson and vice presidential candidate Dani Borel are kicking their “StudentsFIRST” campaign into high gear with just four school days left before voting.Debates and intense campaigns have forced students to compare the candidates’ views side by side.Hudson said he agrees with a tuition increase as long as it protects the academic core.”When I walk with my diploma, I’m going to want that thing to mean something,” Hudson said. “The only way to do that is to keep funding up.”Many of the candidates support the 2010 Class Gift Project, which will add a $30 mandatory fee to graduating seniors’ fee bills to have an engraved brick on the sidewalk around the Parade Ground.Hudson said he and Borel do not support the project because it adds an unnecessary fee that doesn’t protect the academic core.”When we’re talking about massive budget cuts and not having enough classes or professors to attend for us to get our degree in four years, then this is not necessarily a fee that J and I support,” Borel said.Hudson is SG director of external affairs on this year’s administration, and SG President Stuart Watkins said he’s valued the working relationship he’s had with Hudson. “He really worked tirelessly on legislation that took place downtown that related to higher education and LSU,” Watkins said. “Basically, J was our guy that researched all the different bills that took place downtown and made sure we had students down there to represent the University.”Hudson has recently worked on SG’s Coffee and Calls sessions, where SG officials encouraged students to call state representatives and advocate against budget cuts. “He’s been very instrumental in engaging students and informing them about the budget crisis,” Watkins said. “The majority of his work spent has been with the challenges that LSU faces from a budgetary standpoint.”Hudson said working with former SG President Colorado Robertson is what inspired him to run for office. “He went out to students and talked to them and tried to get their problems solved before he did anything in the office that day,” Hudson said. “We need to reestablish that.”Robertson said the most important challenge for next year’s president and vice president is getting students involved downtown and calling representatives. “I can tell you that J, [opposing presidential candidates] Theo [Williams] and Brooksie [Bonvillain] are all qualified candidates, and they all have a firm grasp on what Student Government means and how it impacts students on a daily basis,” Robertson said. “J was a person who understands the rules and how to play by them, but also how to get things done within those rules.”–Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]