Representing anyone requires a person to share interests and concerns, but that doesn’t mean representatives, in carrying out their privileges and responsibilities, should not dress better than they would if they were in class, working at their work-study campus job, or having lunch in any of the dining centers. Putting together a suit of clothes that shows deference to the gravity of a situation, and wearing it confidently, is the ability of a person who understands and wants to rise to the varying circumstances of his or her situations.

Indeed, dressing up for meetings and for important events is a social expectation. If you go to a wedding, funeral, job interview, or perhaps even church without at least a collar and slacks, you look out of place. Meetings of the Government of the Student Body Senate are just such an occasion. There, senators represent the students of Iowa State and make policies that, using and allocating student fees, improve the vibrancy of student life.

We expect that the young men and women charged with spending our money and making sure that other Iowa Staters hear and act upon our most important concerns will, like city, county, state and federal policymakers, dress well.

A glance at the GSB Senate shows that the most active members of the Senate already do so. And, given the social conventions that suggest and almost require dress clothes for certain occasions, last week, the senators had an opportunity to add a bylaw that would require senators to adhere to the “business casual” standard.

But they chose not to take it.

We all have been to funerals. We all have been to weddings. Probably an overwhelming majority has had a job interview. Many have gone to the job fairs that take place at least once per semester. In any event, we all have seen the standard, and know what it looks like. Owning a pair of dress shoes, slacks and a dress shirt — to say nothing of a tie or an outright suit — is an easy matter.

Like other levels of government that have more reach than the 30,000 students of a college campus, GSB is made up of leaders. Those leaders hold office. If we are to believe the members of GSB when they say that what they do is important (and if city councilmen and women, and state representatives and senators, and university administrators are to believe them), they ought to convey seriousness.

The presiding officers and members of the executive branch who attend GSB Senate meetings exceed the “business casual” standard. Is it a step too far if we expect the senators to meet the same standard?

If GSB senators want the students they are supposed to represent to take them seriously — and bear in mind that improving communication between GSB and the student body, getting more students to vote in GSB elections, and informing students and getting them involved in GSB are always goals — they should don attire that suggests they are important.

Part of the issue is whether dressing up will help GSB senators better represent students. We believe it would. When you represent someone else, nothing suits you like a suit.