Western Courier

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Martyn Davis Blake Antonides and Jessie Kallman have both served as the student member of the Board of Trustees and are both running for the position for 2008-2009.

Media Credit: Martyn Davis

Jessie Kallman and Blake Antonides have both served on Western Illinois University's Board of Trustees, but in a heated debate Thursday they proved that is where their similarities end.

One student asked the candidates how they would handle the apparent inequalities among the processes of academic and athletics funding.

According to Antonides, the BOT works with an academic fees recommendation from the university provost, while the athletics fees recommendation comes from the Vice President of Student Services, Garry Johnson.

"We have to ask ourselves, 'Are we going to increase more than our competing universities, or less?'" Antonides said. "You need to take those considerations into account - what the other universities are doing. Really, what you would have to do is a cross-benefit analysis."

Kallman did not seem to share her opponent's views, as she fired back with a rebellious solution of her own - a solution that fostered an uproar of applause from the focused audience.

"That's all dandy, the economics, but I signed up to go to a public institution," Kallman said. "Only 20 percent of our funds come from the public, and that didn't used to be the case. So I won't stand for any sort of increase, because we're not a business or a private institution. We are a public institution, and that's why we can fight these fees."

She added that it is important to fight fees not only on the Western campus, but also at the state capitol of Springfield and the national capitol of Washington, D.C.

"As student trustee, I will maintain my efforts in remaining active to bringing Western to the vision of our politicians, and also fighting this trend of us becoming private when we are not a private school," Kallman said. "We shouldn't have to invest so much of our money in athletics rather than our academic buildings so we can market our university."

Both Kallman and Antonides' knowledge from serving as student trustees in the past brings a mutual amount of experience to the political table. One student took that idea into account, asking what the two candidates would do differently compared to their last terms.

"I find that the majority of the student population agrees with me and that I'm more confident in the things that I stand for. Last year and the years before, I was always insecure fighting student fees," Kallman said. "But the more I did it, the more the students started paying attention to me, the more I realized that they agreed with me.

"I think this year I got more confidence, and next year I will walk into the room with more confidence than I did," she added.

Antonides focused on his prior experience, pointing out that he will not be restrained to learning the ins-and-outs of the position.

"Having been on the Board of Trustees for a year has benefited me in the way that when I, if re-elected, am not going to have relearn how to be a trustee or what it means to be a trustee," Antonides said. "We all know that there are a lot of problems out here at this university; whether that's with buildings or academically or communications through the student body, we can get to work on those things right away."

The last question fielded by the candidates was in regard to the "mechanism" they plan to use in order to obtain input from the student body.

"Well, I take input from the student body from just being a student," Antonides said. "That's really what it takes - having experience with this university to be qualified for this position."

In what was perhaps the only agreement of the night, Kallman also credited being a student as a valuable tool for gathering input.

"Just being a student going to class and talking about issues," Kallman said. "In a lot of my classes people probably get annoyed with me because I might stand up in a lot of my graduate classes and ask them what they think about a certain issue. It's all about being social and visible."

In closing, both candidates took the stand for one final ode to the student body. Antonides went first, focusing again on an economic approach to solving problems.

"She says 'fancy economics' like she doesn't believe in it, but the fact of the matter is that it controls our lives," Antonides said. "We can't sit here as a responsible and accountable business and say that if the state is not going to give us money, we're just going to sit there and complain, because that's irresponsible business.

"If we don't take the costs like we have to, then we're going to start getting eaten away by the cost of inflation," he added. "The 'do nothing' approach is too simplistic, it shows a lack of leadership."

Kallman stuck to her guns as the rebellious candidate, objecting to Antonides' argument of economics and focusing on her goal of fighting injustices.

"When I am re-elected, I will continue to unite the students and fight unjust cost increases, along with working to bring attention to these matters in both Springfield and D.C.," Kallman said. "It's too easy to say that it's all economics; it isn't economics, it's injustice.

"Last time I checked, we go to an Illinois public school for a reason, not a private school, and this is why we can't keep raising the costs," she added. "Re-elect me, because I'm the candidate that understands student issues and because I'm the candidate that's proven to stand up for us. I'm a real student with real experience and the knowledge that WIU needs on the board."

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