Bob Gindorff and Brian Edstrom want to change how the Minnesota Student Association conducts business.

“It ends up being a pizza and pop club,” said Gindorff, an MSA presidential candidate.

Running mate Edstrom said he and Gindorff will focus on MSA tasks that can actually be accomplished.

“Streamlining issues into something we can actually hammer down (is key),” said Edstrom, a computer engineering sophomore and a systems analyst at The Minnesota Daily.

MSA is not being fully responsible to most University students because many of its programs do not affect them, Gindorff said.

Late-night buses, for instance, are a waste of money because this campus has so many commuter students, he said.

Instead of safe transportation, the late-night bus program basically becomes the “drunk bus” program, Gindorff said.

To represent the majority of students on campus, the two said they will focus on three areas.

They said their top priorities are lowering student services fees and changing the University’s weapons policy. They would also like to allow alcohol to be consumed on campus.

In the long run, Gindorff said most MSA presidential candidates do not really care about the cost of fees, but students do.

The governing bodies involved in the fees process need to learn fiscal responsibility, Edstrom said.

The duo said they also feel it is important to ensure students are able to defend themselves on campus.

It is currently illegal to carry a weapon on campus except for authorized personnel. Gindorff said Mace is considered a weapon.

The campus is not a gated community and people can and do get hurt here, Gindorff said.

Although better lighting around campus will help safety, it will not stop an attacker, Gindorff said, and students should be able to defend themselves with Mace or pepper spray.

Both candidates consider themselves conservatives. But student government should be concerned with student politics, not party politics, said Gindorff, founder of Students for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Gindorff said his group, which endorsed him and Edstrom, consists of students who are “connoisseurs of alcohol,” enjoy an occasional cigar and shoot firearms.

Aaron Solem, former organization vice president, said although he likes Gindorff, he doubts his ability to govern.

“Bob’s strongest suit is that he doesn’t take himself seriously,” said Solem, a first-year history student. “He’s a nice guy. He probably wouldn’t make a good candidate.”

But aerospace engineering senior Chris Hill, who said he knows Gindorff through campus political events and mutual friends, disagrees.

“I definitely think it’s good that he’s running,” Hill said. “He’s a good guy. He has great ideas.”