Hari Iyer has attended one Student Association meeting at Syracuse University.

He’s only had time to read the election codes. He has not attended the meetings because ‘every second of his day has been scheduled,’ he said.

Even though SA procedures are unknown to him, he still thinks that his ideas can help benefit the SU student body. His self-assured attitude and desire to create change make him a solid candidate for SA president. So he threw his name in the ring.

‘There is a risk that I will not be as well prepared to deal with the demands as someone who is well-seasoned in the organization, but I’m hoping with my general workaholic nature that I have, I can use it to reach my goals in Student Association,’ he said.

Iyer uses his assertiveness and hard-working tendencies as his campaign tactics. Despite these obstacles of not being previously involved with the organization, he sees the opportunity to make a change and wants to take it.

Iyer is running for SA president of the 54th session against SA veteran Jon Barnhart. Voting begins Monday on MySlice.

Larry Seivert, the current SA president, said Iyer’s previous lack of involvement with SA would be a ‘severe challenge’ if Iyer was elected president.

‘There’s so many internal things,’ Seivert said. ‘We have five codes of statute that we are governed by, plus a constitution. You need to live through them and by them, instead of just reading them.’

But Iyer is up for the challenge. Iyer, a junior finance, economics and policy studies major, said he would devote all of his time during the transition between Seivert’s administration and his own to learning SA’s codes.

Boldness has become a staple of Iyer’s campaign style. He already began his quest for his main goal of financial transparency with an admittedly audacious e-mail to SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor.

The first line of the e-mail read: ‘I hope you are well. Since our last meeting, I’ve found some inaccuracies in your responses based on meetings with other administrators, as well as some gaps in the financial data you provided.’

Iyer requested an interview with the chancellor to clear up these ‘uncertainties.’ He also informed her of a random sample of 2,100 SU students who he blind carbon copied on the e-mail.

A few days before sending the e-mail to the chancellor, Iyer issued a call to action in response to the administration canceling MayFest. He attended one SA meeting Oct. 26, where he publicly announced his plan for a block party on Euclid Avenue.

His suggestion for a student block party protest conflicted with SA’s initiatives for negotiations with administration and a student petition. SA felt they still had a seat at the bargaining table, and people protest when their voices aren’t being heard.

But sources close to home caution his ‘go big or go home’ platform. His father, Vijay, said he told his son to ‘be careful.’ Whether Iyer wins or loses this election, he will still have to deal with the administration afterward, Vijay Iyer said. There is a fine line between assertiveness and disrespect, his father said.

Despite his worries, Vijay said he and his wife, Viji, are proud of their son. Viji Iyer said she enjoyed the headlines in the newspaper about her son trying to make a difference on campus.

Hari Iyer said his friend, Zack Balmuth-Loris, told Iyer he was ‘crazy’ for running because of his lack of previous involvement. Balmuth normally serves as the ‘voice of reason’ in his life, Iyer said.

But Iyer had to disagree with him this time. So he declared his candidacy for SA president.

‘I do see areas for expansion that SA can effectively undertake, ways they can improve the way they represent the student voice,’ Iyer said, ‘because the fact that 20 percent of students vote for a representative student organization is fundamentally questionable.

‘I’m hoping that I can expand SA’s scope. The key way to do this is target issues that are fundamentally important to every student.’

Iyer’s main goal, the reason he decided to run, is to bring financial transparency to the university. Students deserve to know what every cent of their tuition is being used for, Iyer said. Rising tuition is a long-term problem that affects students, he said.

His plan on safety is still in the infant stage, but Iyer said he wants students involved in the task force. He supports every effort to get MayFest back for students, he said, but thinks it’s highly unrealistic the administration will give students a day off.

This whole flurry of events – the assertive e-mails to the chancellor and block party ideas – started when Iyer browsed the SA Web site. He had a general question for Seivert, current SA president, and needed to contact him.

On the left side of the Web site, he saw a button that read ‘President Petition,’ a document students interested in running for SA president must complete.

Iyer is happy at SU, he said, but had been thinking about the changes that need to happen on campus. For starters, communication between administration and students needs to improve, he said.

So, Iyer decided to inquire about running for president. He went to the SA office in Schine. He met ‘a pleasant man’ who told him if he was motivated enough and had the desire to join SA despite never being involved before, he should go for it. The man encouraging Iyer was Jon Barnhart, who had yet to declare his candidacy for SA president.

Now that he’s running against Barnhart, Iyer wonders if he put the idea in Barnhart’s head. Barnhart said his decision to run for president was a personal one not based on other people who were running. But Barnhart remembers the moment ‘vividly’ and encourages anyone who feels his or her voice is not being heard on campus to get involved with SA.

Iyer is taking his shot at getting his voice heard.

‘I’m very content with the makeup of the student body. There are good people at this school. They are motivated enough and know how to have fun,’ Iyer said. ‘At the same time, I do feel the inadequacies of the administration and the system don’t have much to do with the student body. I would like to optimize the system better.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on November 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm