Prior to being elected last year as a Government of the Student Body senator, I, like most students, had little idea of what my student government was doing for me. After my first semester as senator, I have been pleasantly surprised by many of GSB’s members and accomplishments. The hard work of GSB members has helped to benefit the students of Iowa State and the community as a whole. As this work is often overshadowed by a relatively small number of controversial issues, I would like to highlight some of GSB’s accomplishments so far this year.

GSB members have been very active in representing students within the community. Several very active members of the Veishea task force were GSB members. Our voice is also once again being heard within the Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team, a collaboration of organizations funding social service groups. Student concerns are also advocated within the Ames City Council thanks to our ex-officio member.

GSB members have also been successful in communicating student concerns on the state level. The Board of Regents has approved a tuition proposal that guarantees the smallest tuition increase since 1998. GSB members have also been communicating with state legislators to help ensure funding for higher education, and that effort is poised to become one of the largest state lobbying campaigns yet through ISU Ambassadors.

A GSB member also found a way to earn interest on some of the money kept in reserve. Because of this, there will now be an additional $3,000 a year available to fund student appreciation events. As always, GSB members also represented students on various university committees, worked with a number of service organizations and strived to ensure that student fees were fairly and effectively distributed.

There are several projects already underway for this semester as well. Given our prior accomplishments, I cannot help but be optimistic that the coming semester will be as successful as the last.

Kyle Krause

GSB Senator

Frederiksen Court