The Ames mayor and some on the City Council will be up for reelection this November. These jobs are part-time, salaried positions. What a great way for a freshman or sophomore to spend the next four years gaining valuable experience.

I am sure the university administration would bubble over with pride, and you might be surprised how much support you would find in the community. Additionally, all university students are legal residents of Ames, so all that is needed is to motivate them to register and vote.

The process of getting on the ballot and organizing a campaign is simple. I am sure that professors and student organizations would be very supportive of a campus tradition of having undergraduates run for office. Sure, politics can be an ugly business, but I am certain there are two or three among the student body with the intestinal fortitude and cunning to rise to the occasion.

Some areas of need are policies that help students take more ownership of the community rather than just seeing themselves as drifting through. Two important ways to do this would be to find a forward thinking judge to establish a community court in Campustown so students can be adjudicated using the restorative justice approaches recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice. Another is the need as they have in Des Moines to assign an Ames police sergeant, in a specially marked vehicle, to act as a community liaison to students residing in the university impacted area.

Do not underestimate the importance of having someone youthful elected to a position of power at city hall. In 2004, when the most recent Veishea riot occurred, disgruntled students had zero representation and the resentment was palpable. In 2005, when the Iowa Board of Regents passed an anti mass gathering law, nobody in an elected position stood up to point out that only totalitarian governments have such laws. Additionally, Iowa State itself is deliberately shielded by law from outside interference, so it may take a student in a position of power to occasionally point out its deficiencies.

For younger adults in Ames, having authentic political power is critical to a healthy democracy. Through the ballot box, it is time to be heard.

– Jon Shelness