Campaigns for the Inter-Residence Hall Association’s executive slates began today, with three tickets vying for the president and vice-president positions.

The slates are as follows, with president listed first:

* Jeff Greiner, sophomore in history, and Paul Duncan, sophomore in transportation and logistics.

* Luke Howell, junior in political science, and Aaron Schmidt, senior in computer engineering.

* Tom Plagge, junior in computer engineering, and Chris Benson, junior in animal science.

The three slates will meet tonight at 9 during a debate in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union.

One of the major issues of the April 4 election might end up being the new Hawthorn Court apartments, the first of which will open their doors this fall.

IRHA voted Thursday night to allow Hawthorn Court residents to decide for themselves next fall if they want to be represented by IRHA.

Plagge, Benson and Schmidt plan to live in the apartment complex next semester, and Plagge and Benson have pledged to step down if Hawthorn residents decide to include themselves in IRHA.

Jeff Greiner and Paul Duncan

Greiner is the current IRHA vice president and Duncan is the director of finance. They cite their experience as one of their greatest assets.

“I think we are highly qualified and familiar [with IRHA],” Greiner said. “We have a history of doing [our jobs] efficiently and getting things done, especially with the Department of Residence.”

Greiner has been actively involved in Union Drive Association student government and his house government.

“I feel that it helped me develop a relationship with students at the grassroots level,” Greiner said.

Duncan has also served as president of his floor for two semesters.

Their platform includes building better communication between IRHA and residence hall students, increasing the visibility of IRHA executives, increasing advertising of IRHA-sponsored events and creating a more cooperative environment between parliament members.

“We don’t want people to make enemies. We have been able to be cooperative during the past semester and that helps with the community and makes the meetings go by more efficiently,” Greiner said.

Luke Howell and Aaron Schmidt

Despite having no previous IRHA experience, both Howell and Schmidt said they are confident they would bring a lot to parliament. Both are resident assistants in Larch Hall and have been involved in Richardson Court Association government for more than a year. Howell also campaigned earlier this year for Government of the Student Body vice president.

“We bring a strong, positive attitude towards helping make changes,” Howell said. “We don’t criticize all the time.”

Howell and Schmidt are planning to concentrate on a direct campaign of visiting floors and speaking at house meetings.

“We are both strong advocates of doing the campaigning ourselves,” Schmidt said.

Howell said one of the main goals of a Howell/Schmidt administration would be to increase the awareness of IRHA.

“A lot of people don’t know about IRHA. I don’t think they’re very aware,” Howell said. “One thing we would like to see is having Residence Hall Week be as big as Greek Week.”

Tom Plagge and Chris Benson

These two current members of parliament said their experience is the centerpiece of their campaign. Plagge is the RCA at-large representative, and Benson is the Birch-Welch-Roberts Hall representative.

“I was a hall representative for two years, and I am now an at-large,” Plagge said. “I’m the vice president of my house, and I’ve always been involved with student government since my second semester of my freshman year.”

Benson also has considerable IRHA experience, serving as a hall representative for two years.

Plagge and Benson said they would like to see the students become more involved with IRHA.

“The big thing is to keep in touch with the students and hear what they have to say,” Plagge said. “The more people that are a part of IRHA, the stronger the voice is to the Department of Residence.”