What would it be like to have 51 stars on the flag?

The question whether Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, will become the 51st state in the Union is still up for debate in the Senate. Besides lurking around Congress, the question has also been on the minds of Iowa State professors and students.

On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved the United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act. The bill, guided through the House by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is designed to determine the status of Puerto Rico.

It is unclear when the Senate will vote on the measure, since Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has decided to shelve the issue until a later date.

According to the Washington Post, if the legislation is passed in the Senate, Puerto Rico would be required to hold a plebiscite by the end of the year.

Through that process, it can choose whether it wants to remain a commonwealth, become a state or become an independent country.

If Puerto Rico chooses either independence or statehood, the president would be required to submit a 10-year transition plan by the middle of next year.

President Clinton is supportive of the measure and was quoted in the Post as saying the House approval of the bill was “a victory for democracy and against exclusion.”

ISU faculty and Puerto Rican students said a lack of consensus on the Caribbean island will slow the statehood drive.

Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science, doesn’t think Puerto Rico will become a state in the near future because he feels there is too much Puerto Rican opposition to it.

“I think that there are enough Puerto Ricans who feel uncomfortable about it,” he said.

Support for statehood would be difficult to obtain, said Mack Shelley, professor of political science and statistics.

“It would be tricky to get a solid majority behind the notion of statehood,” he said.

Schmidt cited objections of Puerto Rico’s statehood from other U.S. citizens.

He said that since Puerto Rico would become the poorest state in the country because of its low standard of living, some people might want to deny it statehood.

Jose Amaya, assistant professor of English, has done research on Puerto Rico. He said Puerto Rican citizens are divided over the question of statehood.

“I think it might be a 50/50 split,” Amaya said.

Amaya said there might be “nativist backlash to including Puerto Rico as a state.” Some of the Puerto Rican natives, he said, fear U.S. exploitation.

He said those citizens who don’t want Puerto Rico to become the next state enjoy the benefits of being a commonwealth. With this special designation, Puerto Ricans do not have to pay federal income tax.

They cannot vote in national general elections but may vote in national primaries.

Puerto Rico is represented in the House by one delegate who may voice his opinion but has no vote except in committees. The commonwealth has no representation in the Senate.

If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it would be entitled to six seats in the House and two Senate seats.

Puerto Rican student Glenda Ortiz, graduate student in Animal Science, thinks that Puerto Rico will gain if it becomes a state.

“I think Puerto Rico will have more benefits with statehood,” she said. “We’ll have the same benefits as all the states.”

She said she hopes for statehood so Puerto Ricans can vote for president, but that it doesn’t seem likely, considering the varied opinions throughout Puerto Rico.

“I think the majority [of Puerto Rico] wants to stay the same,” she said.

“There’s too many opinions, and I don’t think [the competing interests] can agree on [statehood].”

Puerto Rican student Maria del Pilar Cabrera, senior in pre-biological medical illustration, said she thinks Puerto Rico will become a state before the next election.

“I think it’s time we decide our future,” she said.

Cabrera said she thinks some Puerto Ricans are uncomfortable with statehood because they feel they’ll lose their language, culture and flag, and they’ll have to pay income tax. She said none of the above is true.

“Puerto Rico will get better if [it] becomes a state,” she said.

Cabrera is concerned that U.S. citizens living in the states don’t recognize Puerto Ricans as American citizens because of their Hispanic culture and background.

At ISU, she said she is sometimes seen as an “international student.”

“It’s like we’re [thought of as] second-class American citizens,” she said.

Amaya agreed. “These people are Americans too. They’ve already been citizens for quite some time.”

Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1952, its people voted to establish a commonwealth.