We would like to thank the Daily for this opportunity to introduce ourselves and some of our goals as representatives of the student body.

Government of the Student Body Speaker of the Senate Henry Alliger has served as a senator for the College of Agriculture for the past three years, holding a seat on the rules committee throughout his entire experience, making him the most experienced GSB representative returning to Iowa State in August.

Sarah Walter has worked with GSB for the past two terms as a representative for the College of Engineering and is serving as the director of student diversity, making her the only vice presidential candidate to have senate experience. These experiences, among others, have led us to develop personal and diverse leadership styles and a vast network throughout our community which will aid us in accomplishing our goals as executives.

We feel GSB has become disconnected from the greater student body and as executives we will work to ensure a more accessible, accountable and responsible GSB by simplifying student government, simplifying student life and simplifying student involvement.

Simplifying student government is more than a campaign promise. We have and will continue to work on a number of changes throughout our time serving on GSB to limit redundancy and confusion, as well as make GSB and your money easier to access. We plan to increase awareness of what GSB is and does through information campaigns, so more students and their organizations can utilize GSB and its resources to accomplish their goals.

We will limit the size of the executive cabinet in order to ensure that GSB can be more responsive to student needs, and we plan to address many aspects of the GSB financial process, including improved communication of expectations for funding and the steps involved in the finance process.

GSB has taken an ever-increasing interest and role within the community. We believe that simplifying student life centers on working to build “one community” while advocating for students.

Currently we are working to inform the community about the April 5 special election to lower City Council terms and increase the hotel/motel tax.

We are also working with the Story County Board of Supervisors to organize an open forum to discuss the proposed keg registration ordinance and issues related to underage and binge drinking.

We recently began projects that includes many members of the community to address concerns about occupancy regulations in several areas. We will continue to encourage student involvement in the community and represent students and their initiatives within Iowa State and Ames.

Student involvement is directly connected to student success and is very important to us — whether it be in the form of celebrations, organizations or feedback. We believe that each individual student and organization adds distinct value to the ISU community and we will continue to support them.

We believe GSB can and should offer more to organizations than funding. As student organizations transition to the organization recognition policy, there will be an increased need for organizational structure, as well as the existing need for support and leadership development. We are committed to developing avenues for students and their organizations to access the experience and resources that GSB has to offer in conjunction with other leadership bodies on campus.

We believe GSB exists to assist students in becoming successful throughout their college experience. As GSB executives we will utilize our network and resources to support you and your efforts while at Iowa State, above and beyond the general expectations.

We will continue to be involved in lobbying the State Legislature to support the “Partnership for Transformation & Excellence Plan” in order to make tuition more predictable, and we will continue to actively support the future of a spring celebration and Veishea/LINC in their efforts.

We recognize that GSB is about more than the initiatives and goals of the two individuals elected to serve you as executives, which is why we will continue to reach out to students and their organizations for input and feedback.

As we have continually demonstrated through actions, GSB exists to serve you. Please check out our Web site, simplifygsb.com, to learn more about how we plan to continue to serve students.

Make the simple choice — vote Alliger/Walter Monday or Tuesday at vote.iastate.edu.

— Henry Alliger is a senior in animal science from Paton. Sarah Walter is a junior in mechanical engineering from West Chicago, Ill.