“Sparse turnout at Monday’s caucuses,” read the headline on the front page of Tuesday’s Daily.

Only three people attended a Republican Party caucus at Pearson Hall.

In weeks prior to the caucuses, sparse voter turnout was also reported at the vote on a new Government of the Student Body constitution.

Only 365 Iowa State students took advantage of their right to vote on the GSB constitution Jan. 22 — 1.4 percent of the student body and well short of the 20 percent needed to pass the bill.

Do students at ISU just not care about student and state government?

Many students would call that question a harsh assumption and would excuse themselves for not voting by saying they were uninformed.

So which is it?

Well, probably a little of both.

GSB senators spent a great deal of Monday’s meeting discussing voter apathy, but if they really wanted their constitution to pass, they should have spent more time educating their constituents.

They did run a full-page advertisement in the Daily listing the proposed constitution, but nowhere on the ad did it mention the date of the vote, a fairly important detail.

So it’s a good bet that most ISU students had no idea the GSB constitution vote was taking place. But if they had known, it’s also a safe bet that most wouldn’t have voted, as demonstrated in last year’s GSB elections.

A recent poll found that the majority of freshman college students have little or no interest in politics.

It seems people only voice their concerns about politics after a decision has been made that affects them. They fail to realize that all decisions made, whether small or large, have some effect on them.

The failed GSB constitution actually would have cut funding for the Graduate Student Senate. Didn’t more students, especially graduate students, want to have a say in that?

And, for all the complaining about students not having a “voice,” anyone who went to a Republican Party caucus could have had valuable input into their party’s platforms and nominees.

While elections and constitution votes may be filled with political jargon, students have a responsibility to find out what’s important to them and contribute to the decision.