Candidate Profile

Benny Lum

(He/Him)

Hello, my name is Benny, and I am currently a first year student at LAS. I am running for the position of student Senator because there are issues that I see on our campus, and I hope that I can have the opportunity to raise such issues to those who have the ability to deal with them. If given the opportunity to serve on the University Senate, I hope that the other members of the Senate will consider changes regarding but not limited to: (1) Encouraging campus libraries to accept Illinois app payments in addition to i-cards, (2) Advocating for a free parking space for drivers on campus, possibly near the State Farm Center, (3) Adding a mini-fruit section, if ISR does not currently have one, to the ISR Dining Hall, (4) Finding a way for Peoria Charter buses to also drop students off at FAR/PAR (Peoria buses currently drop students off at ISR, the station, and the Armory), (5) Proposing a rule, if possible, that requires professors to post on Canvas the pages of textbooks that cost over $15 dollars, (6) Working to find a way to extend the hours at SRCE so that the ARC will not get too overcrowded, possibly by transferring staff members from the ARC to the understaffed SRCE, (7) Making changes to the UI Ice Arena, and for this, I am proposing that the arena be opened for students later in the day, and I am willing to support efforts to renovate, not demolish the arena. Also, as a resident of one of the residence halls, I have seen some of the issues that many students have been talking about, from a heater that works too well to walls that need to be repaired. (8) As a candidate, I support the Senate passing a rule, if it has not already done so, that requires building maintenance to respond to student concerns before a certain number of days. If I have the opportunity to serve as an LAS Senator, I cannot promise you that every other senator will be on board with some of my proposals. However, if given the opportunity, I will raise these issues to the body, and I will work to try to address some of these issues.