Despite low audience turnout Wednesday afternoon, the Government of the Student Body vice presidential debate served as an opportunity for candidates to discuss their platforms and encourage student voting in the upcoming election being held Feb. 16-18.

About 15 people attended the informal debate, which took place at noon in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Candidates Amy Robertson, Jamal White and Jennifer Johnson took turns answering questions from both the audience and from election commission representative Shannon Dobson.

Candidates first explained their credentials and qualifications for the office of GSB vice president.

Robertson, junior in sports management and exercise science, said she has been involved in various organizations on campus such as the Student Alumni Association, Veishea committee and the Panhellenic executive council.

White, junior in metallurgical engineering, said he has worked on GSB as a senator for the College of Engineering. He said as a resident assistant, he has worked with a wide variety of people in order to meet their needs. White also is director of university relations for the Black Student Alliance.

Write-in candidate Johnson, junior in elementary education, has served as GSB senator for the College of Education. Johnson said she has taken a wide variety of courses at Iowa State, enabling her to communicate with students from all walks of life.

Throughout the debate, the candidates outlined their platforms.

White said he intends to run the senate effectively and to reach out to constituents. He said he wants to represent the needs of all students.

“Vice presidents must remain impartial and recognize other people’s opinions,” White said.

He said some of his additional goals include increasing safety on campus, expanding the book exchange program and dealing with tuition increases.

Johnson said she will work with her running mate, Chris Wisher, on improving transportation and parking on campus and giving the student body a voice.

Robertson’s ideas included a university-wide service project and an evaluation system for university services.

Another topic of discussion was the impact candidates have made at ISU.

Johnson said she has influenced the ISU community by working on the GSB senate. She said she looks at both sides of issues carefully before making a decision.

Robertson said she was chosen as a running mate because she has not previously been on GSB.

“I have been involved in other areas, and I have a little better knowledge of what students want,” Robertson said. She added that she wants to reach out to underrepresented groups on campus.

Communication was another important issue addressed by the candidates.

Johnson said she would like to incorporate the ideas and needs of all students at ISU.

“Our major goal here is to get out and communicate with students and find out what we can do to represent all students at ISU,” Johnson said.

White and Robertson held similar views.

“We want to bring [students] into GSB. That’s one way to increase communication. We will do our best to go out and meet with groups and get their ideas,” White said.

Robertson said she would like to improve communication between students and GSB by planning forums and creating newsletters.

“I think that senators need to make sure that they are not only informing their constituents, but they should make sure they attend as many meetings as possible,” Robertson said.

Johnson said she also plans to create a newsletter to help students become more informed about GSB.

Finally, the candidates stressed that teamwork with their partners is one of their chief roles as vice president.

“I want to be a support for the president, but I also want to be out there and active. I want to be seen; I want to be in a position to make changes, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” White said.

During closing statements, one issue addressed was increasing the number of student voters.

“The student body needs to know that they should go out and vote and make an informed decision,” Johnson said.

“One of our main goals is to get people to vote on the 16th, 17th and 18th … We want GSB to be representative of the entire student body,” White said.

In order to recruit more student voters, White and his running mate are sponsoring a pizza party, which will be awarded to a residence hall floor that compiles the highest voter turnout.