Can an essentially nonminority student run for the minority seat in the Government of the Student Body senate? The GSB Constitution doesn’t have a rule against it.

So one senator says, “Why not?” Others say the answer is obvious.

Senator Mark Nimmer, off-campus, is running for the minority senator seat against incumbent Marcia Johnson.

Nimmer, a senior in engineering from Marion, said he is running for the seat “because I think the seat should not exist, and this is a way for me to express that view to the public.”

And in fact, Nimmer claims he is a minority because he’s of Arab decent. He said any seat based on ethnicity is racist.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down minority-based congressional districts. I think over time they will do the same for the state and federal level,” he said.

Nimmer said if he wins the seat, he will try to get the position eliminated.

Although he is a senior, he said he doesn’t plan on graduating in May. “At this point I am not certain about that, but that’s my plan.”

There are other specialty seats on the GSB Senate: two international seats, two nontraditional student seats and a disability seat.

In the Feb. 25-27 elections, students can vote for senators in two categories: those who represent their colleges and those who represent their residential segments of the university. However, students can give up their colleges vote to vote in a specialty seat race.

Jamey Hansen, vice chairman of the Senate, said it is wrong for Nimmer to run for the minority seat, but the Constitution does allow for it.

“It does not say you have to be a member of that group to represent that group,” he said.

The GSB Constitutional Convention, which has been meeting on Sundays to revamp the constitution, plans on addressing the specialty-seat issues.

Hansen said he would like to see a change in the requirements for running for the seats.

Nimmer is not alone in his challenge.

Casey Powers, intrafraternity, is vying to take over one of the international seats. Powers grew up in Pocahontas — Iowa, that is. There are no other candidates on the ballot for the two international seats.

“I can represent international students better than no one. I have over a year on the Senate,” he said.

He, too, said he is running because he doesn’t believe the specialty seats should exist. Powers said when the debate came up last year, proponents of the seats cited the fact that anyone could run for them as a reason to keep the seats.

“Since they used that as their argument, anyone is running for them,” Powers said.

But Hansen said Powers and Nimmer’s campaigns are political moves to distract votes away from the college seats. Voting minority students, he said, will have to give up their college votes to protect their specialty seats.

That, Hansen said, will likely mean conservatives will have a better shot at the college seats.

“They are not only making a statement, they are making a political move, and it is wrong,” Hansen said.

Senator Mike Pogge, LAS, said Nimmer and Powers are making a mockery of the Senate. “They have no desire to represent these people,” he said.

Johnson, who is running against Nimmer, could not be reached for comment.