Several of the Government of the Student Body senate seats are experiencing some intense competition, especially in the race to represent the College of Engineering. Seven candidates, two of whom are incumbents, are trying for the three seats.

Ben Golding, who currently is an engineering senator, said he realizes he is up against some stiff competition.

“There are some very excellent and qualified candidates running,” he said.

Golding said there are various reasons why he is running again, but he said primarily, he wants to see some changes made in the senate.

“I would like to be able to have a retreat for the senators since a lot of new people are joining the senate,” he said. “I think it’s important that they are educated about the issues GSB has to address.”

Golding said communication between the senators and the students also is important.

“Getting out to the constituency council and the people we are supposed to represent — that’s one of the changes,” he said. “Instead of just talking about it, people need to do it, and that’s one of the things I want to push for.”

Golding also said he is expecting increased student participation in these elections.

“There seems to be a lot more student interest in the elections this year, both executive and the senate,” he said.

The other incumbent engineering candidate is Gregory Tew. He said he expects the election to be difficult and hopes the students will make fair choices on whom to vote for.

“I want students to be informed about where everyone stands,” Tew said. “If they don’t know where each person stands, they might just randomly elect someone else.”

Tew said he also is concerned about communication between GSB and the students.

“I don’t think the students really realize what we do and can do together,” he said.

Craig Wilkening, freshman in computer engineering, also is running for an engineering seat.

“I’m really interested in getting involved in some of the decisions that the GSB is making for the ISU students,” he said. “I think I can voice the opinions of the regular students a lot more than others could.”

Wilkening also said there needs to more communication between GSB and the students.

“I’m going to try to get more of the issues that we’ve faced daily or weekly on the GSB agenda so people have a better idea of what’s going on,” he said. “I would ask people for opinions on issues being decided upon so I could get more opinions than just my own.”

Wilkening said although he is running against two incumbent senators, he is not worried.

“It’s a stiff competition for the seat,” he said. “It does seem like a long shot since I’m a freshman, but I would really like to give it a try.”

Lee Kaiser, senior in construction engineering, currently is a Union Drive Association senator who is vying for an engineering seat. He said he is not surprised there are so many candidates running for engineering senate seats.

“I think it’s always been a pretty contested seat,” he said. “Engineers have always been really active in student government. It’s also a really important college to represent.”

Kaiser said he can understand why many students are frustrated with GSB.

“If we follow our bylaws because of precedents set in the past, maybe we spend too much time doing that and don’t necessarily get to pressing issues that interest students,” he said.

Kaiser said he has ideas for some changes in GSB as well.

“I’d like to see an improvement in the representation by the leaders of the constituency councils,” he said. “I’d also like to see the president of the three residence hall associations show up to more things and be more involved. Those people are like the leaders in their constituency councils, and if we get their input, we could make better informed decisions.”

Three candidates are running for the two UDA senate seats.

Charles Johnson, freshman in political science, is one of the candidates running for the seat. He is an active member in College Republicans and held student government positions in high school.

Johnson said he decided to run out of a desire to serve the students.

“This is a way of helping them to handle their money responsibly,” he said. “The student fees that the GSB handles is not always handled responsibly, and I would like it to be more responsible in handling the money.”

Barry Snell, sophomore in computer engineering, said he is running for UDA senator because there are some changes that need to be made within GSB.

“Well, I guess I was inspired to run when I was sitting down and eating with some guys from my house and listening to all the guys complain about stuff going on at ISU and with GSB,” he said. “Of course, I complained with them, too, so this time I decided to shut up and do something about it.”

Snell said he has some specific changes in mind.

“One of the major things I’d like to fix, and I know the other people who are running against me agree with, is student apathy,” he said. “A lot of that is because they don’t know anything about what GSB does.”