I need to confess something. When people get all excited about an issue and say, “call your congressman,” I never do. Part of the reason is that I don’t always know who my congressman is or how to contact him. The other reason is that I don’t think my input will matter.

On campus, I’ve encountered similar attitudes regarding the Government of the Student Body (GSB). A student may have an opinion on something that GSB is doing, but they won’t voice their opinion. I’ve had people tell me they weren’t sure how to get in contact with GSB and figured their opinion wouldn’t make any difference anyway.

Having been on GSB in the past, I can tell you that contacting GSB is easy, and that one person’s opinion actually does matter. GSB certainly makes mistakes and doesn’t always do the best at explaining how its system works or how to get involved. But once you know a little about GSB, it’s easy to get involved.

The GSB office is located in “G43” of the east office space which is in the basement of the Memorial Union right next to “Onion’s” convenience store. Head through the doors of the east office space and go to the back left-hand corner to the GSB desk.

If you have any questions about GSB, asking a person at the main desk of the GSB office is a great place to start. They are paid staff and it is their job to help you. Also, in front of the main desk are the offices for the GSB president, vice-president and the finance director.

Each of these three GSB officers keeps office hours, and the odds are good that at least one of them will be around when you stop by. Your student fees pay the stipend they receive, so don’t hesitate to ask questions or to give them your two cents’ worth. If you would prefer to call, the phone number for the GSB office is 294-1585.

The GSB Senate is also easy to contact. The Senate meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m., usually in the Pioneer room on the second floor of the Memorial Union. There is a time set aside in GSB Senate meetings when students can speak about any issue concerning ISU. If you wish to contact the senators without going to a meeting, they all are on the e-mail list: [email protected].

Better yet, JOIN the Senate. Each year many Senate seats are uncontested. GSB does not pay its senators, so finding enough students to fill all GSB positions has long been a problem. It is too late for students to get their names listed on a ballot this spring, but not too late to run as a write-in candidate.

Write-in candidates have a very good chance at winning Senate seats. According to GSB election commissioner Eric Anderson, as of last week only five people are ballot candidates for ten available off-campus senate seats. So it looks like five off-campus senate seats will be won by write-in candidates. Likewise, only one candidate has met the deadline to have their name listed on the ballot for the RCA seat, and there are two available seats. Many other residence areas and colleges also have more available seats than ballot candidates.

If you wish to run for the GSB Senate as a write-in candidate, the deadline is noon on February 13th. Drop by the GSB office before the deadline, fill out a form, give them five bucks and poof, you’re a write-in candidate for the GSB Senate.

You don’t have to be on the Senate to have a voice on the student government. Simply contact the senator who represents you and ask them to write a bill or speak on the issue. For example, if your issue primarily affects students in the business college, contact John Hamilton, who is their senator. And if your issue affects residence hall students, just contact Chris Wisher, who is the Towers representative.

A full list of senator names is available online at:

www.public.iastate.edu/~stu_org/gsb/senatedir.html.

Few students take an active role in GSB. But the option to do so is there. In fact, since participation is so low, your opinion, while it may not be agreed with, will certainly be heard. And in case you plan to get involved with a government at a much higher level, I found out who our congressman is. His name is Leonard Boswell, and he can be reached through the U.S. Capital switchboard at (202)224-3121.

Maybe someday I’ll call him.

---

Benjamin Studenski is a junior in industrial engineering from Hastings, Minnesota.