You’ve probably noticed GSB elections are today and tomorrow.

Or not. We can’t say we blame you.Rest assured we’ve been doing our best to keep you informed on the candidates and their platforms, and to your right you’ll find us doing just that. 

Will you care? We’re not sure. GSB Election turnouts, historically, fall somewhere in between City Council and School Board elections. Maybe less.

 

There was an excellent article in last month’s edition of Ethos written by our very own Taysha Murtaugh with extra reporty goodness from Emily Bloomquist titled “Government of Which Student Body,” a veritable exposé that broke down the actual representation, or lack thereof, on behalf of GSB Senators.

 

We weren’t completely surprised at just how low the last election turnout was: There were 27,945 students at Iowa State during the last election, 2,120 of whom voted for the winning ticket.

 

According to our calculators, that means Roling/Dobbels represents the interests of 7.6 percent of last years’ students.

Keep in mind, last year’s turnout was almost double that of the previous year.

 

It’s also worth noting that 14 of 37 GSB senators – 38 percent of GSB’s legislative branch – won their positions with less than seven votes.

Now, that isn’t to say that the blame falls squarely on the elected – it’s the responsibility of each and every student at this institution to vote for a GSB senator whose interests mirror their own.

Still, we can’t help but take the abysmal election turnouts as a reflection on the general feeling of indifference, if not apathy, toward GSB.

With such a small margin of victory, it’s sometimes difficult to get on board with the concept that our elected student representatives can actually represent the majority of the student population. Having said that, we know that students who run for GSB positions do so with the intent of representing each and every student at Iowa State – not just the small percentage who participate in the elections. It’s our responsibility to help them do their jobs, because it’s in our best interest.

Whether it’s voting or abstaining in GSB elections, writing letters or taking a trip to the Capitol, it’s important for us to make our voices heard.

We’ll be among those at the Capitol today so the State Legislature knows just how thrilled we are about their attempts at degrading the quality of our education. We’re hoping to catch up with the Hoben/Knight and Bruning/Voss tickets on the way down, and anxious to see what they’ll be saying.

 

We’ll keep you posted.