With Bob Tisch out of office, the new student Regent will make sure NIU’s presence is known to the Board of Regents.

The Board of Regents governs NIU, Illinois State University in Normal and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

Former Student Association Senator Jim Mertis took office as NIU student Regent July 1. His term will last one year with the option to be renewed at the end of the term.

“I will definitely be different than Bob Tisch, and I hope to be more effective,” Mertis said.

Mertis said he hopes to deal effectively with the administration with respect to any policy changes that might arise.

He said one of the policies that might be challenged during the 1990 school year is the problem of increased tuition.

“There’s always the fight to increase funding to education in Illinois and keep tuition costs down,” he said. “I will challenge the administration to keep tuition down.”

As a non-voting member of the Board, Mertis said he will have the same duties voting Board members have. But he said he will challenge the adminstration to allow student Regents to vote.

“I do think it would be best for students if student Regents had a vote,” he said.

“It looks like things are turning that way—to shared governance, and the next step will be to allow a vote by the students,” he said.

Another issue Mertis said might be of importance to NIU students is the possibility of mandatory health insurance. “I am definitely against mandatory health insurance,” he said.

Mertis said he did not think the ROTC issue will again be an issue this year however. “The BOR made its decision,” he said.

He also said he is compiling a position paper on the subject but the main idea of it is the ROTC does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. He said the problem stems from the military itself.