For the second time in the last three years, the race for Government of the Student Body President may be uncontested. 

Currently, Jonathan Turk, junior in political science, and Chandra Peterson, junior in political science, fill the sole slate.  

Daniel Fischer, GSB president and senior in agricultural business, said last year’s contested election allowed for two very active campaigns. Although contested campaigns are important, as they allow for a public discussion of issues to take place, an uncontested race is “not the worst thing in the world as long as the one candidate is qualified and willing to share their thoughts and goals before the campaign,” he said.  

“We are lucky that Turk and Peterson have serious experience and knowledgeable minds about GSB and the university,” Fischer said, assuming the GSB election runs uncontested. “They have a tremendous Web site with their goals for the upcoming year, and I am confident they will do a great job assuming they do win the election.”  

Although the current executive ticket has previous experience on GSB, some individuals believe it is necessary that students have a choice between at least two candidates in the election.

Uncontested races can be signs of political apathy and an unhealthy democratic environment, said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

“Contested races foster debate over important issues and raise different viewpoints and solutions to problems,” Bystrom said.

Mark Sullivan, election commissioner and senior in chemistry, attributes the lack of interest in running for GSB to students feeling intimidated by GSB, because they think it’s only for political science majors and those committed to other leadership roles on campus.

“Our goal should be to have a GSB comprised of the variety of majors who make up the community of Iowa State University, just like we would expect our city councils, legislatures and U.S. Congress to be comprised of a variety of professions,” Bystrom said.

GSB is a good way to gain real-world experience, she said.  

Sullivan agreed, and said GSB plays an important role at Iowa State.

“GSB distributes nearly $1.5 million in student fees every year. Senators have an extremely important role in determining where that money goes … as well as a great hands-on understanding of politics and government.”

Bystrom said GSB is an excellent leadership opportunity and women should be encouraged to take advantage of it. 

In the 47-year-history of GSB, only 12 women have served as president. Three of those women served as GSB president in consecutive years from 2004-05 to 2006-07.

“It’s not that women can’t be elected as GSB president, it’s that so few women run for GSB president,” Bystrom said. “We need to encourage more women to run for the legislative branch of GSB, which currently is about 33 percent female, in addition to seeking executive office.”

Additionally, organizations at Iowa State should encourage their female members to run for GSB, she said.

The Catt Center hosted a “Campaign College” on Saturday to get women thinking about running.

“The purpose of this pilot program is to increase the numbers of young women running for student offices on their campuses,” she said. “Iowa State was selected to kick off this national program. We had 20 to 30 students participate throughout the day.”

While the race for GSB executive office is currently uncontested, it had recently been contested.

Derek Zarn, sophomore in art and design, turned in his statement of intent to run for GSB president, but has since changed his mind.  

Zarn said he decided to run for GSB president because he “is tired of the increasing cost of higher education.” Zarn attributed this problem to the salaries of professors. He said although he understands competitive salaries are necessary to hire and retain quality professors, he doesn’t believe they are working as hard as their salaries might suggest.

“If we can afford to pay professors an average of $106,000 per year, than we had better be sure students are getting what they pay for,” he said.

However, according to the Iowa State Fact Book, the average salary for nine and twelve-month professors is $90,317.

Zarn said he decided not to run for the position after realizing that he agrees with Turk on most of the important issues. 

Although Zarn is not running in the upcoming GSB election, he said he will consider running for GSB in the future.  

“If the time comes when the school needs a good leader, I’ll be there,” he said.

Deadline

Students interested in running for president of the GSB must file a statement of intent by Friday at 5 p.m. Students must also gather 1,500 student votes by 5 p.m. on Feb. 13.

Fischer encourages students to run for GSB

Daniel Fischer, president of the Government of the Student Body and senior in agricultural business, encourages students to consider a run for GSB, as it has been rewarding for him in many ways.

“It is an honor to represent students at this level, and it is very neat to be constantly thinking of ways to improve student experiences and a large student organization,” Fischer said. “The amount of lessons learned by leading an organization and a large student body is also a significant benefit of working.”

Fischer said the initiatives his administration has taken regarding student debt have been the highlight of its year.

The initiatives include GSB and ISU Ambassadors forming a proposal for completely tax-free textbooks and state legislators introducing this recently as a bill. They also include developing the financial literacy campaign to help students become aware of resources, and their continual partnership and advocacy of the financial counseling clinic and financial literacy courses, he said.

Fischer said a successful student body president should have a good perspective on the experiences of the large and diverse student body.

“It is important to understand the problems and issues of students,” he said.

A president must also understand the university system and must be able to work well with others, he said.