A year’s worth of books, a couple months’ rent or a presidential election are a few items that could be bought with $1,000 at Ohio State, according to some critics of Undergraduate Student Government.

Wednesday night, USG and the Election Governance Board continued efforts to revise some of the by-laws concerning elections.

Starting this year, presidential candidates will be limited to a budget of $1,000, as opposed to the $5,000 they could spend last year. USG leaders are working to close loopholes and prevent candidates from spending excessive amounts of money on their campaigns.

“We don’t want to price anyone out, so I think this forces candidates who are serious about running to be creative,” said West Campus Senator Deb Mason.

Some believe it’s not the amount of money that wins campaigns, but only how well that money gains name recognition.

“It’s how wisely money is spent that wins campaigns,” said Aaron Pendergraft, junior in political science and a potential candidate for this year’s election.

Pendergraft, who favors the cap, said he thinks it’s difficult for low-budget candidates to compete with people giving away free pizza on The Oval.

“I think it levels the playing field,” he said.

Free pizza and ice cream were just a couple of the tactics USG President Eddie Pauline used last year during his campaign to get students to vote for him.

“USG elections are a joke,” said Todd Morrison, a senior in civil engineering. “The people who run don’t accurately represent the people who actually vote.”

Statistics show voting percentages last year were less than half of what they were the previous year.

“There’s a big feeling of apathy among students,” Pendergraft said. “We need to tap into those students and motivate them to care.”

Some members of USG said they felt the cut was drastic. The new cap means candidates can spend only about two cents per student.

“Less money means reaching less people,” Mason said.

Other changes to the by-laws include a single Web site from which candidates can link their personal sites for campaigning purposes and a shortened campaigning period.

Elections are set to take place the third week of spring quarter.