MARTIN F. HOWRYLAK	Liberty Party candidate for MSA President
LIZ KESLACY		Liberty Party candidate for MSA Vice-President

		LIBERTY PARTY PRESIDENTIAL PLATFORM

-  The Liberty Party calls for a restructuring of the Department of Public
Safety, such that it will no longer be an arm of the Michigan State
Police.  As such, any laws broken on campus would go through the Ann
Arbor and Washtenaw County criminal justice systems.
	With that accomplished, smoking MARIJUANA on campus would be
punishable by a fine of $25 instead of the current hard-line policy of the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) which threatens the violator with time
in prison.  The Liberty Party believes that susch treatment of people who
violate victimless crimes is absurd.  Ideally, the Liberty Party calls for
the legalization of all drugs on campus, but we realize that this is
outside of the jurisdiction of the Michigan Student Assembly.  MSA can,
however, affect policy on campus.  The Liberty Party encourages MSA to
petition the Board of Regents for a change in the prosecution of MARIJUANA
laws on campus.  The Liberty Party also calls on MSA to organize
speaking engagements and events dealing with the issues of drug
legalization, drug prohibition, and the effects of drugs on the body.
Such events would be organized as part of the circuit of programs that are
sponsored by MSA each year.  

  - The Liberty Party supports the revamping of the MSA structure such 
that funding will come from voluntary sources.  This contrasts the 
current structure where funds for MSA, Student Legal Services, and the 
Ann Arbor Tenants Union are coerced from students because they are 
mandatory.  The Liberty Party believes that a much more productive way 
for the Michigan Student Assembly to spend its time would be to find ways 
to improve campus security and the lighting situation on campus, 
especially on North Campus.

-  The Liberty Party opposes all efforts to raise the mandatory student
fee.  This is consistent with our opposition to any mandatory fees.  We
believe that the fairest way to raise funds for the Michigan Student
Assembly is to allow students to voluntarily decide whether or not
they want to fund it.  The most effective way of accomplishing this goal
would be to provide a checkoff system with students who want to pay the
fees checking a "yes" box and denoting how much they want to pay.  Those
who don't want to pay the fee would check the "no" box.  Anyone who didn't
check any box or return the form would automatically pay the fee.  The
Liberty Party sees no ill-effect of such a policy.  Quite the contrary.
Indeed, such a system would instill much-needed student confidence in the
campus-wide student governing organization.

-  The Liberty Party calls for fiscal responsibility and electoral
accountability on the part of the Michigan Student Assemble and its
members.  The Liberty Party abhors the unorthodox procedures of MSA
meetings, the disorganization of the assembly, and the inability of its
leadership to properly follow procedures (including Robert's Rules of
Order).  The Liberty Party calls on MSA to start its meetings on time and
for its members to attend meetings.  It calls on MSA to properly record
unexcused absences and tardies and treat these transgressions accordingly.
	Requests for funds from committees should be submitted to the
assembly in a professional manner.  Requests submitted on paper napkins
and torn scraps of paper is completely unacceptable.  Committee requests
should include the sums of money requested, as well as a detailed report
by the committee explicitly stating how the money is going to be spent and
why it should be spent in that manner.
	Accountability is imperative to the well-being of the assembly,
and as such the members of MSA should not put themselves above students.
Members of MSA are elected to serve the students, not to satisfy an
ego trip or to receive perks.  The purchase of personal possessions with
assembly funds is wrong and should stop immediately.  The Liberty Party
explicitly condemns current President Fiona Rose for her lack of
responsibility to students and her blatant disregard of ethical standards.
The same condemnation goes out to current Vice-President Probir Mehta for
his disregard of authority and procedures.  Mr. Mehta has proven that he
has no respect for the system, and has put himself above the law and
constitution of the assembly.  There is a proper way to allocate funds for
student groups and there is an improper way to allocate funds for student
groups.  Mr. Mehta chose the improper way.  The Liberty Party supports the
current system for the allocation of funds to student groups, and believes
that the Budget Priorities Committee was set up for that purpose
(correctly).  There is no other way around it!!  For one person to
unilaterally allocate funds is to set a dangerous precedent. 

 -  The Liberty Party believes that electoral reform is essential to the 
well-being of MSA.  Such electoral reform would include the following:

	1) Creation of mechanisms to allow for absentee voting for MSA.
	There is currently no way for students who are out of town to 
	vote in the elections.  The Liberty Party believes that this is tragic.
	While electronic voting is a step in the right direction, it still
	does not address the issue of people who are not present on campus 
	during elections and who do not have access to a computer.  Nothing 
	short of pure absentee voting will satisfactorily address the issue.	

	2)  Revamp the election methods so that all votes cast are 
	equal.  Currently the MSA's own election code provides for weighted 
	voting.  If a voter improperly fills out his ballot, his votes are 
	invalidated.  MSA members complain of the low voter turnout; at the
 	same time they do everything that they can possibly think of to limit 
	the number of people who actually vote.

-  The Liberty Party also would like to see the following improvements 
made in student housing:

	1)  Improved maintenance/janitorial services.

	2)  Competition in cable service providers and elimination of the 
	Continental Cablevision monopoly within the University.

	3)  Restructuring of the meal credit system so as to provide a 
	banking of meal credits by semester and not weekly.  Unused meal 
	credits would be refunded to the student at the end of the semester.

- THIS PLANK WAS ADOPTED BY THE LIBERTY PARTY BUT NOT THE PRESIDENTIAL
TICKET:
	 The Liberty Party supports the elimination of the foreign language 
requirement.  It is the Party's belief that the requirement hinders the 
respective departments' ability to deliver quality instruction to those 
students who actually want to learn a foreign language.  All too often 
those who are enrolled in the foreign language classes really have no 
interest in learning the language; rather, they are there merely to 
satisfy the University's requirement.  These students thus interfere with 
the ability of the instructors to teach and of the other students to learn.
	Furthermore, because of the demand on the various departments, 
the freedom of the instructors to set their own schedules and to use 
their own teaching methods is severely reduced.  The various foreign 
language departments have taken it upon themselves to use centralized 
planning in order to standardize all classroom teaching.  While this 
concept is not altogether bad, it does tend to reduce the enthusiasm of 
teachers.


-  The Liberty Party proposes a restructuring of the MCard system.  The 
Party prefers a system which would eliminate the University-backed 
monopoly that First of America bank has with the current MCard structure.